The United States will leave World Health Organization January 22, 2026, the United Nations said on Thursday, after the US president formally informed them of the decision Donald Trumpwho accused the agency of mishandling the pandemic and other international health crises.
Trump announced the move on Monday, hours after being sworn in for a second four-year term. The WHO said on Tuesday it regretted the move by its leading donor country.
Trump must give a year’s notice of the US withdrawal from the Geneva-based body and pay Washington its obligations under the 1948 joint resolution of the US Congress.
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The United States is by far the largest financial supporter of the WHO, with about 18 percent of total funding. The WHO’s last two-year budget, for 2024-2025, was $6.8 billion. It was not immediately clear how much the US owed.
“I can confirm that we have now received the US letter of withdrawal from the WHO. The date is January 22, 2025. It would come into force one year from yesterday, January 22, 2026,” said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq.
The US departure is likely to threaten programs across the organization, according to several experts inside and outside the WHO, particularly those dealing with tuberculosis, the world’s biggest infectious disease killer, as well as HIV/AIDS and other health emergencies.
The withdrawal order signed by Trump states that the administration will suspend negotiations on the WHO’s pandemic agreement while the withdrawal is ongoing. US government personnel working with the WHO will be recalled and relocated, and the government will seek partners to take over necessary WHO activities, according to the order.
Trump’s withdrawal from the WHO was not unexpected. He took steps to leave the body in 2020 during his first term as president. Before the US withdrawal could be completed for the last time, Joe Biden won the presidential election and stopped it on his first day in office on January 20, 2021.
