US’ Donald Trump threatens to withdraw WHO funding

President Donald Trump yesterday threatened to cut US funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO), accusing it of bias towards China, where the authorities lifted a two-and-a-half-month travel ban on Wuhan, the city that spawned the global coronavirus pandemic.

WATCH: Trump announces a “hold” on money going to the WHO, calls them “China centric.”

“They missed the call. They could have called it months earlier … they should have known. And they probably did know.” pic.twitter.com/kSi3Aq6DyY

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 7, 2020

Trump said the WHO was “very China-centric” in its approach, suggesting the UN agency had gone along with Beijing’s efforts months ago to minimise the severity of the outbreak.

“The WHO really blew it,” Trump said in a Twitter.

Trump declared he would cut US funding for the organisation, before backtracking and saying he would “strongly consider” such a move.

Graphics: US is the biggest contributors to the WHO

After President Trump threatened to cut US funding over its handling of the coronavirus crisis, WHO hit back at Trump.

Today Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, defended the organisation.

He said: “We are now in an acute phase of the pandemic – now is not the time to cut back on funding.”

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