Trump threatens to cut funding to WHO as COVID-19 toll hits 400,000 in US

April 8, 2020 12:53 pm

US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) over alleged mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.

This development comes as the number of COVID-19 cases in the US passed the 400,000 mark.

Speaking at the White House daily press briefing on the pandemic on Tuesday, Trump said the US will consider putting WHO funding on hold.

“We are going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO, we are going to put a very powerful hold on it and we’re going to see,” he said.

According to Worldometers, a website which provides official figures on the virus globally, US recorded 400,549 cases of the disease as of Wednesday morning.

Although 21,711 patients have recovered, 12,857 persons have died from complications of COVID-19 in the US.

Shortly after saying the US will put WHO funding on hold, Trump said his words were not based on confirmed decisions but on consideration.

He said the cut in funding will be considered and decision will be taken afterwards.

“I am not saying that I am going to do it. But we are going to look at it,” he said.

“No, I didn’t. I said we are going to look at it.

In a tweet he shared earlier, the US president accused WHO of focusing on China despite the huge funds the organisation gets from the US.

“The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?” he tweeted.

The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2020