The United Nations confirms that we will leave the World Health Organization in 2026. | News Donald Trump
The UN body has received a formal request from Washington to withdraw next year as Trump orders a funding freeze.
The United States should formally withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) In January 2026, after the UN body received an official letter from US President Donald Trump this week.
UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Thursday that the withdrawal was now being launched after Trump on Monday – his first day in office – pulled the US out of the WHO and halted future funding to the organisation.
“I can confirm that we have now received the US withdrawal letter from the WHO. The date is January 22, 2025. That would take effect one year from yesterday, January 22, 2026,” Haq said.
Trump also ordered Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the director of the US government’s Office of Management and Budget to “stop the future transfer of any funds, support or resources of the United States government”.
Washington recalled all US government personnel working with the WHO and ordered them to stop participating in negotiations on a WHO-led global treaty to deal with pandemics.
With the departure of the USA, who will lose their most important financial supporter.
The US contributes about 18 percent of the organization’s funding, which amounted to about $261 million between 2024 and 2025. This contribution is followed by China in second place in the amount of 181 million dollars. The WHO’s loss of its top donor will affect the global health agency’s ability to tackle major crises from tuberculosis to HIV/AIDS and global pandemics, experts say.
During his first term, Trump accused who misled the Coid-19 pandemic and sent the request withdraw from the organization In July 2020.
That retraction attempt was thwarted when Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, who promptly rescinded the order once in office.
Many health experts have accused Trump and his administration of botching the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
The WHO released a statement on Tuesday saying it regretted the announced departure of the US – and noted that its work “plays a critical role in protecting the health and safety of the world’s people, including Americans.”
“We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to sustain the partnership between the United States and the United States, which will benefit the health and well-being of millions of people around the world,” WHO said.
The US joined the WHO in 1948 through joint resolutions from both houses of Congress, which leaves open the question of whether Trump can unilaterally withdraw US membership without congressional approval, according to Jean Galbraith, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.
Trump’s Republican Party controls both the US Senate and House of Representatives, but the withdrawal could still be challenged in court, legal experts said. “Trump made a unilateral decision to withdraw from who. But we joined the WHO in 1948 by an act of Congress. Trump needs congressional approval to withdraw,” wrote Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at the University Georgetown, on social media.
“His decision is too catastrophic to be made without Congress and the courts. As director of the Who Center, I am considering a lawsuit,” Gostin said.
Trump made a unilateral decision to withdraw from whom. But we joined the WHO in 1948 by an act of Congress. Trump needs congressional approval to step down. His decision is too disastrous to be made without Congress and the courts. As director of the Who Center, I am considering a lawsuit.
– Lawrence Gostin (@lawrencegostin) January 21, 2025
