Trump Halts WHO Funding

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he is halting funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) during its fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

World leaders condemned this decision.

“It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported as it is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against Covid-19,” said Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations.

“Blaming does not help,” Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister, wrote on Twitter. “The virus knows no borders.”

Trump accused the WHO of “severely mismanaging and covering up” the coronavirus outbreak and said the U.S. will withhold funding until it can review the organization’s actions.

The U.S. is the WHO’s biggest donor, and halting funding will deprive the organization of about 10 percent of its budget during the crisis.