In a four-page letter late Monday, Trump had threatened to
permanently cut off U.S. funding of the WHO unless it committed to
“major, substantive improvements” within 30 days. It was a major
escalation of his repeated attempts to blame the WHO and China for the
spread of the virus and deflect responsibility for his handling of a
worldwide public health crisis that has killed more than 90,000 people
in the United States.
But representatives of the organization’s member nations rallied around the WHO at its annual meeting in Geneva, largely ignoring Trump’s demand for an overhaul and calling for a global show of support in the face of a deadly pandemic.
The outcome left the United States isolated as officials from China, Russia and the European Union chided Trump over his heated threats even as they acknowledged the need for a review of how the WHO performed as the virus spread from China to the rest of the world.
Public health experts noted that Trump’s threats to withdraw from the organization and halt funding ignored the reality that any such moves would require the consent of Congress, something many analysts said was unlikely.
Virginie Battu-Henriksson, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said it was “the time for solidarity, not the time for finger pointing.” Valentina I. Matviyenko, speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, said Moscow would stand behind the WHO, adding that there was “certainly no reason to perform a mock trial or any kinds of investigations” or to “destroy the useful things that have been accumulated for decades by mankind.”
Read more at: WHO Members Reject Trump's Demands but Agree to Study Its Virus Response
But representatives of the organization’s member nations rallied around the WHO at its annual meeting in Geneva, largely ignoring Trump’s demand for an overhaul and calling for a global show of support in the face of a deadly pandemic.
The outcome left the United States isolated as officials from China, Russia and the European Union chided Trump over his heated threats even as they acknowledged the need for a review of how the WHO performed as the virus spread from China to the rest of the world.
Public health experts noted that Trump’s threats to withdraw from the organization and halt funding ignored the reality that any such moves would require the consent of Congress, something many analysts said was unlikely.
Virginie Battu-Henriksson, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said it was “the time for solidarity, not the time for finger pointing.” Valentina I. Matviyenko, speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, said Moscow would stand behind the WHO, adding that there was “certainly no reason to perform a mock trial or any kinds of investigations” or to “destroy the useful things that have been accumulated for decades by mankind.”
Read more at: WHO Members Reject Trump's Demands but Agree to Study Its Virus Response
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