Just this last November, all of America was held in deep suspense amidst the 2024 presidential election between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. Fast forward to today, and Trump has recently been inaugurated, reclaiming the presidential title. And he’s eager as ever to pick up where he last left off after his four-year hiatus from the White House.
Via executive order, Trump officially withdrew the US from the World Health Organization (WHO) the same day he was inaugurated. Since Trump’s first term, he and Biden have been playing a vicious game of political tug-of-war on this issue. While Biden stood firmly in support of the WHO, Trump stood firmly against it.
In the executive order, it stated that his decision to leave was largely because of the WHO’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.” From an economic perspective, the Trump administration wasn’t the biggest fan of the WHO either, as they supposedly demanded “unfairly onerous payments.” This amount was cited in the order as being “far out of proportion” to our fellow—or, I guess, formerly fellow—WHO member states.
Public opinion seems to think that Trump’s withdrawal is quite the hiccup. In a post on X, Lawrence Gostin, a public health law professor at Georgetown University, commented, “It’s a cataclysmic presidential decision. Withdrawal is a grievous wound to world health, but a still deeper wound to the US.” Similarly, former White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha stated that, “America cannot fight [every disease] alone.”
However, some remain firm that this may be the best solution for America, namely because of the WHO’s supposed corruption. According to the Associated Press, in 2019, the organization was thrust head-first into a controversial scandal, where “Congolese women were sexually harassed and assaulted by health responders working to contain Ebola.” While it isn’t safe to say whether this terrible incident can speak to the overall corruption of WHO, it does explain why some may be wary of such a powerful organization.
Whether you agree, disagree, or find yourself somewhere in the middle, the decision to leave the World Health Organization has been made by our new president—and it is likely not about to change any time soon. At this point, all we can do is say “toodle-oo” to the WHO.
