Public health experts say U.S. withdrawal from the W.H.O. would undermine the nation’s standing as a global health leader and make it harder to fight the next pandemic.

The United States will leave the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump said on Monday, saying the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.

As part of his blitz of executive orders, President Trump delivered on a promise to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization. The Trump White House accuses the WHO of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic and bias toward China.

The World Health Organization said in January 2025 that China's reported levels of acute respiratory infections, including those caused by the flu-like virus HMPV, were "within the expected range" for winter.

"The bottom line is that withdrawing from the WHO makes Americans and the world less safe," says Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of the nonprofit health organization Resolve to Save Lives and former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

President Donald Trump announced Monday he is withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization, a significant move on his first day back in the White House cutting ties with the United Nations’ public health agency and drawing criticism from public health experts.

China on Tuesday vowed to support the World Health Organization after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the United States to withdraw from the body, which he has slammed over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The U.S. has traditionally been the most generous benefactor of the WHO. A Trump executive order to cut ties with the WHO could pose a threat to global public health.

While signing the order to end U.S. membership in the World Health Organization, the President spoke of the disparity between contributions from the U.S. and China. Here's how WHO funding works.

President Donald Trump started his second administration with a blitz of policy actions to reorient the U.S. government.

President Donald Trump set a record on his first day back in office by issuing 26 executive orders, aiming to fulfill many of his campaign promises.