US Completes Withdrawal from World Health Organization, Citing Pandemic Mishandling and Funding Imbalances
Trump signed Executive Order 14155 on January 20, 2025—his first day in office during his second term—directing the U.S. to withdraw from the Geneva-based agency. The order revived a similar effort from his first term in 2020, which had been reversed by President Joe Biden in 2021. In the 2025 executive order, the administration justified the move by accusing the WHO of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic "that arose out of Wuhan, China," failing to implement needed reforms, and showing undue political influence from certain member states. It also highlighted what it described as disproportionate U.S. financial contributions compared to other nations, such as China. U.S. law, stemming from the 1948 joint congressional resolution authorizing WHO membership, requires one year's notice for withdrawal. The Trump administration provided that notice through the executive order, and on January 22, 2026, federal officials from the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) an...