President Donald Trump on Monday, May 18, threatened to permanently pull US funding from the World Health Organization over the Coronavirus pandemic.
In a four-page letter addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, the US President criticized the stages of the body’s response to the outbreak of the disease since December.
The US President, who disclosed that talks on reforming the WHO had already begun, had earlier called the UN health body a “puppet of China”.
The letter read in parts “It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste. It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste.”
This is coming after Trump temporarily halted funding to the organization last month.
Here is the full letter