US Exit from World Health Organisation Becomes Official
The United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially taken effect today, one year after President Donald Trump ordered the move shortly after assuming office.
Under the terms of the agreement between the US and the global health body, withdrawal becomes effective after a mandatory one-year notice period, which expires today.
One of the conditions outlined in the agreement requires the US to settle its outstanding financial contributions in full before exiting. That condition has not been met. However, the WHO has no mechanism to enforce payment or prevent the withdrawal.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said he hoped the US would reconsider its decision and rejoin the organisation, describing the exit as “a loss for the US and also a loss for the rest of the world”.
In 2025, shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order initiating the process of withdrawing the US from the WHO.
At the time, he said the decision was prompted by the organisation’s “mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states”.
The executive order also criticised the WHO’s funding model, arguing that it imposed “unfairly onerous payments” on the US that were disproportionate compared with contributions from other countries, including China.
Speaking during the signing of the order, Trump said, “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore.”
The US exit has triggered a budgetary crisis at the WHO, forcing the organisation to cut its management team by half and scale back operations, with budget reductions across the agency.
