President Donald Trump announced in January that the United States would withdraw from the WHO by 2026. He tried to separate from the organization in 2020 during his first term, but his order was revoked the second Joe Biden stepped into office.
Following an official letter to the WHO, Trump has ordered that funding for the WHO to end as the break-up is under way. The U.S. has been the most important financial contributor to WHO, giving a total of $706 million – 9-10% of WHO’s overall budget – for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The WHO in a 142-0 consensus vote agreed on a 33-page “Pandemic Agreement” – separate from the 2024 IHR – in March, which was later adopted by the 77th World Health Assembly. The new amendments would give the WHO more power to make decisions during future pandemics – including what threat level actually constitutes a world emergency. Under the new guidelines, when a pandemic is declared, WHO regulations would take effect.
Despite the Biden administration helping to negotiate the 2024 IHR, the Trump administration officially rejected the new amendments.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kenedy Jr. said that the rejection of the amendments was to “prevent international bureaucrats from shaping U.S. domestic policies.” They affirm that America’s priorities lie with Americans first, and the policies from all these amendments would only restrict freedom in the U.S., opening the doors for a repeat of what was seen during the COVID pandemic.
Tim Walberg, a U.S. House member for Michigan’s Fifth District and chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, spoke with Tony Perkins on Washington Watch about the WHO’s effect on the U.S.
America First in action
Walberg said the Trump administration is working to protect national sovereignty instead of surrendering it to entities such as the WHO.
“What a unique thought that we would not be a globalist country but rather stand firmly on the fact that America ought to be leading the world and doing it independently, respecting our sovereignty and our founding principles, our people and our freedoms,” Walberg expresses.
This can’t happen by joining any other entity and letting them chart the course, he said.
Critics point out the WHO is an unaccountable, unelected international organization that would have the power to take away certain freedoms during the next international health crisis had the U.S. remained part of the agreement.
Walberg talks about why some Americans would want to give their freedoms over to the global power.
“Our citizens for too long have been, especially since 1980 when the Department of Education was formed and put in place, we've been taught a different thing about our country,” Walberg states. “We've been taught that there are bad things about our country, that we've never learned from our mistakes and that the world needs to help us along the way.”
WHO is one of the organizations that some believe are needed to help guide the U.S. However, during the COVID pandemic, the WHO, which has close ties to China, succeeded in putting the country in a worse state, Walberg said.
He thinks that our nation suffered as a result of that.
“And certainly, we weren't taken care of medically and health-wise during that process as well. And you would think we would learn, but there are still people who have been brainwashed to think that someone else has to watch out for America doing the wrong things for its people, as opposed to the people themselves,” Walberg states.
U.S. needs to codify WHO plan
The WHO is the healthcare arm of the United Nations (U.N.), and Walberg believes the U.N. will continue to pressure the U.S. to be a part. They won’t stop.
“No, they won't since we stopped the funding, until we separate ourselves from them in a very solid fashion,” Wallberg advises.
However, separation is not all Walburg says that needs to be done to get out from uner from their influence.
“I think also potentially putting legislation in place that would require any change back to their ownership must not happen unless Congress says so clearly. So, I think those are things we ought to consider,” concludes Wallberg.
