US ‘terminating relationship’ with World Health Organization – Trump

“We will today be terminating our relationship with the WHO,” Trump announced on Friday at a press conference in the White House Rose Garden.He said that the WHO was “pressured” by China to mislead the world about the novel coronavirus, hampering the US and global response and resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide – including more than 100,000 Americans.

As one example, Trump listed the WHO advice against banning travel earlier this year, and criticism of his decision to halt incoming flights from China. Almost every country eventually stopped air travel, in addition to Chinese-style lockdown tactics intended to slow the spread of the respiratory disease.

“The world is now suffering as the result of malfeasance of the Chinese government,” Trump added.

Trump had sent a letter to WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus two weeks ago, demanding that the agency “clean up its act” and giving it 30 days to do so. He accused the body of “inaccurate and misleading” statements about the coronavirus, and doing Beijing’s bidding.

“The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China… we do not have time to waste,” he wrote.