On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order removing the United States from the World Health Organization, steering the country away from participation with the specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for global public health.
This isn't the first fight Trump has picked with the WHO. His administration began the removal process in July 2020 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Former President Joe Biden halted the exit in one of his first actions when he started his presidential term in 2021. The executive order cited the WHO’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states” as a reason for the withdrawal.
