Trump threatens withholding funds from UN world health body
AFP/File / Fabrice COFFRINIUS
President Donald Trump threatened "to put a very powerful
hold on" funding to WHO, whose logo is pictured, but later
said he wasn't saying he was going to do it
President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut US funding to the World Health Organization, accusing it of bias toward China during the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump told reporters he was "going to put a very powerful hold on" funding to WHO, the UN body whose biggest funding source is the United States.
"We're going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO," said Trump, who pursues an "America First" agenda and has previously criticized other UN and multilateral agencies.
He gave no details about how much money would be withheld and minutes later during the same press conference he said: "I'm not saying I'm going to do it."
"We will look at ending funding," he added.
According to Trump, the WHO "seems to be very biased toward China. That's not right."
His comments built on an earlier statement on Twitter in which he accused the WHO of being "very China centric."
Trump asked why the WHO had given "such a faulty recommendation," apparently referring to the UN body's advice against curtailing international travel to stop the virus which first spread from China.
"Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on," Trump wrote, referring to his decision to ban travel from the country.
China faces criticism in Washington, particularly from Republicans, over the way it handled the pandemic and Trump has expressed doubt over the accuracy of Chinese statistics for cases and deaths.
However, Trump himself has been widely criticized for initially downplaying the virus, which he likened to an ordinary flu and said was under control in the United States, before later accepting that it was a national emergency.
By JONATHAN LEMIRE, JILL COLVIN and ZEKE MILLER
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to freeze U.S. funding to the World Health Organization, saying the international group had “missed the call” on the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump also played down the release of January memos from a senior adviser that represented an early warning of a possible coronavirus pandemic, saying he had not seen them at the time. But he turned his anger on the WHO, first declaring that he would cut off U.S. funding for the organization, then backtracking and saying he would “strongly consider” such a move.
Trump said the international group had “called it wrong” on the virus and that the organization was “very China-centric” in its approach, suggesting that the WHO had gone along with Beijing’s efforts months ago to minimize the severity of the outbreak. The WHO has praised China for its transparency on the virus, even though there has been reason to believe that more people died of COVID-19 than the country’s official tally.
“They should have known and they probably did know,” Trump said of WHO officials.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has voiced skepticism toward many international organizations and has repeatedly heaped scorn on the WHO. In its most recent budget proposal, in February, the Trump administration called for slashing the U.S. contribution to the WHO from an estimated $122.6 million to $57.9 million.
The organization’s current guidance does not advocate closing borders or restricting travel, though many nations, including the United States, have enacted those steps. The WHO declared COVID-19 a public health emergency on Jan. 30, nearly a month before Trump tweeted that “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA” and a full 43 days before he declared a national emergency in the United States.
Health experts have suggested that the weekly death totals will reach a new high in the United States this week. More than 12,000 people have died from the virus in the U.S.
Vice President Mike Pence said that the Centers for Disease Control will release new guidelines this week for returning to work for people with potential exposure but who may not be displaying symptoms.
Trump continued on Tuesday to defend his actions in the early days of the crisis. He played down memos written by Peter Navarro, a senior White House adviser, that were made public this week. In the late January memos, the most direct warning as yet uncovered in the upper levels of the Trump administration, Navarro warned that the coronavirus crisis could cost the United States trillions of dollars and put millions of Americans at risk of illness or death.
Trump said Tuesday that he was not aware of the memos back in January but that he unilaterally followed some of their recommendations, including taking steps to curtail travel from China. But he said he wouldn’t have wanted to act prematurely when it was not clear how dire the situation would become.
“I don’t want to create havoc and shock and everything else. I’m not going to go out and start screaming, ’This could happen, this could happen,’” Trump said. “I’m a cheerleader for this country.”
UN health agency on defensive after Trump slams it on virus
FILE - In this Monday, March 9, 2020 file photo, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization speaks during a news conference on updates regarding on the novel coronavirus COVID-19, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. After the new coronavirus erupted in China, the World Health Organization sprang into action: It declared an international health emergency, rushed a team to the epicenter in Wuhan and urged other countries to get ready and drum up funding for the response. Many analysts have praised the initial response by the world’s go-to agency on health matters. But now, governments have started to brush aside, ignore and criticize WHO recommendations on issues of public policy, like whether cross-border travel should be restricted or whether the public should wear masks. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP, file)
GENEVA (AP) — In a heartfelt plea for unity, the World Health Organization’s chief sought Wednesday to rise above sharp criticism and threats of funding cuts from U.S. President Donald Trump over the agency’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The vocal defense from the WHO Director-General came a day after Trump blasted the U.N. agency for being “China-centric” and alleging that it had “criticized” his ban of travel from China as the COVID-19 outbreak was spreading from the city of Wuhan. Tedros, an Ethiopian and the WHO’s first African leader, projected humility and minimized his personal role while decrying invective and even racist slurs against him amid the WHO’s response to the disease. The new coronavirus has infected more than 1.4 million people and cost over 83,000 lives across the globe. “Why would I care about being attacked when people are dying?” he said. “I know that I am just an individual. Tedros is just a dot in the whole universe.
But he dodged questions about Trump’s comments, while acknowledging the the agency was made up of humans “who make mistakes,” and insisted his key focus was saving lives, not getting caught up in politics.
“No need to use COVID to score political points. You have many other ways to prove yourself,” he said. “Without unity, we can assure you, every country will be in trouble.”
Avoiding any direct mention of Trump, Tedros’ comments testified to the often-delicate task faced by U.N. leaders when criticized by member states. That challenge is especially difficult with the United States, the biggest donor to the world body and its offshoots. At the White House on Tuesday, Trump first said the United States would “put a hold” on WHO funding, and then revised that to say, “We will look at ending funding.” He took aim particularly at its alleged criticism of the U.S. ban on travel to and from China.
“The WHO ... receives vast amounts of money from the United States,” Trump said. “And they actually criticized and disagreed with my travel ban at the time I did it. And they were wrong. They’ve been wrong about a lot of things.”
Generally, the WHO has been careful not to criticize countries on their national polices, and it was not immediately clear what specific criticism Trump was alluding to.
Trump’s remarks came as many governments, particularly in Europe, have started to brush aside, ignore and criticize WHO recommendations on issues of public policy, like whether travel restrictions are warranted or whether the public should wear masks. In guidance that dates to Feb. 29, WHO advises against travel or trade restrictions with regard to countries facing the outbreak - now nearly every country in the world - arguing the measures could divert resources, prevent the delivery of aid, and hurt economies. The United States contributed nearly $900 million to the WHO budget for 2018-2019, according to information on the agency’s website. That represents one-fifth of the WHO’s total $4.4 billion budget for those years.
The U.S. gave nearly three-fourths of the funds in “specified voluntary contributions” and the rest in “assessed” funding as part of Washington’s commitment to U.N. institutions.
A more detailed WHO budget document provided by the U.S. mission in Geneva showed the United States provided $452 million in 2019, including nearly $119 million in assessed funding. In its most recent budget proposal from February, the Trump administration called for slashing the U.S. contribution to the WHO to $57.9 million. Some African leaders and the U.N. chief rallied around Tedros and the agency, insisting a worldwide public health crisis was no time to reduce the budget of the entity working to coordinate an often-disjointed international response. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the WHO “is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against COVID-19” and must be supported. Once the pandemic ends, he said, there must be an investigation into how it emerged and spread so quickly as well as into the reactions of all those involved in the crisis so lessons can be learned.
The chair of the African Union’s commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, wrote on Twitter: “Surprised to learn of a campaign by the U.S. govt against WHO’s global leadership. The African Union fully supports WHO and Dr. Tedros.” Namibia’s President Hage Geingob tweeted that “WHO, under the stewardship of Dr. Tedros, has shown itself to be a true flag-bearer of multilateralism when global solidarity has become critical.”
Some U.S. lawmakers piled on alongside Trump, with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida calling for Tedros to resign. “Unfortunately, it has been politicized,” he said of the WHO on Fox News. “I have deep concerns about it.” ___ Jill Colvin in Washington, Edith M. Lederer in New York, Cara Anna in Johannesburg and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut US funding to the World Health Organization, accusing it of bias toward China during the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump told reporters he was "going to put a very powerful hold on" funding to WHO, the UN body whose biggest funding source is the United States.
"We're going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO," said Trump, who pursues an "America First" agenda and has previously criticized other UN and multilateral agencies.
He gave no details about how much money would be withheld and minutes later during the same press conference he said: "I'm not saying I'm going to do it."
"We will look at ending funding," he added.
According to Trump, the WHO "seems to be very biased toward China. That's not right."
His comments built on an earlier statement on Twitter in which he accused the WHO of being "very China centric."
Trump asked why the WHO had given "such a faulty recommendation," apparently referring to the UN body's advice against curtailing international travel to stop the virus which first spread from China.
"Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on," Trump wrote, referring to his decision to ban travel from the country.
China faces criticism in Washington, particularly from Republicans, over the way it handled the pandemic and Trump has expressed doubt over the accuracy of Chinese statistics for cases and deaths.
However, Trump himself has been widely criticized for initially downplaying the virus, which he likened to an ordinary flu and said was under control in the United States, before later accepting that it was a national emergency.
By JONATHAN LEMIRE, JILL COLVIN and ZEKE MILLER
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to freeze U.S. funding to the World Health Organization, saying the international group had “missed the call” on the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump also played down the release of January memos from a senior adviser that represented an early warning of a possible coronavirus pandemic, saying he had not seen them at the time. But he turned his anger on the WHO, first declaring that he would cut off U.S. funding for the organization, then backtracking and saying he would “strongly consider” such a move.
Trump said the international group had “called it wrong” on the virus and that the organization was “very China-centric” in its approach, suggesting that the WHO had gone along with Beijing’s efforts months ago to minimize the severity of the outbreak. The WHO has praised China for its transparency on the virus, even though there has been reason to believe that more people died of COVID-19 than the country’s official tally.
“They should have known and they probably did know,” Trump said of WHO officials.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has voiced skepticism toward many international organizations and has repeatedly heaped scorn on the WHO. In its most recent budget proposal, in February, the Trump administration called for slashing the U.S. contribution to the WHO from an estimated $122.6 million to $57.9 million.
The organization’s current guidance does not advocate closing borders or restricting travel, though many nations, including the United States, have enacted those steps. The WHO declared COVID-19 a public health emergency on Jan. 30, nearly a month before Trump tweeted that “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA” and a full 43 days before he declared a national emergency in the United States.
Health experts have suggested that the weekly death totals will reach a new high in the United States this week. More than 12,000 people have died from the virus in the U.S.
Vice President Mike Pence said that the Centers for Disease Control will release new guidelines this week for returning to work for people with potential exposure but who may not be displaying symptoms.
Trump continued on Tuesday to defend his actions in the early days of the crisis. He played down memos written by Peter Navarro, a senior White House adviser, that were made public this week. In the late January memos, the most direct warning as yet uncovered in the upper levels of the Trump administration, Navarro warned that the coronavirus crisis could cost the United States trillions of dollars and put millions of Americans at risk of illness or death.
Trump said Tuesday that he was not aware of the memos back in January but that he unilaterally followed some of their recommendations, including taking steps to curtail travel from China. But he said he wouldn’t have wanted to act prematurely when it was not clear how dire the situation would become.
“I don’t want to create havoc and shock and everything else. I’m not going to go out and start screaming, ’This could happen, this could happen,’” Trump said. “I’m a cheerleader for this country.”
UN health agency on defensive after Trump slams it on virus
FILE - In this Monday, March 9, 2020 file photo, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization speaks during a news conference on updates regarding on the novel coronavirus COVID-19, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. After the new coronavirus erupted in China, the World Health Organization sprang into action: It declared an international health emergency, rushed a team to the epicenter in Wuhan and urged other countries to get ready and drum up funding for the response. Many analysts have praised the initial response by the world’s go-to agency on health matters. But now, governments have started to brush aside, ignore and criticize WHO recommendations on issues of public policy, like whether cross-border travel should be restricted or whether the public should wear masks. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP, file)
GENEVA (AP) — In a heartfelt plea for unity, the World Health Organization’s chief sought Wednesday to rise above sharp criticism and threats of funding cuts from U.S. President Donald Trump over the agency’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The vocal defense from the WHO Director-General came a day after Trump blasted the U.N. agency for being “China-centric” and alleging that it had “criticized” his ban of travel from China as the COVID-19 outbreak was spreading from the city of Wuhan. Tedros, an Ethiopian and the WHO’s first African leader, projected humility and minimized his personal role while decrying invective and even racist slurs against him amid the WHO’s response to the disease. The new coronavirus has infected more than 1.4 million people and cost over 83,000 lives across the globe. “Why would I care about being attacked when people are dying?” he said. “I know that I am just an individual. Tedros is just a dot in the whole universe.
But he dodged questions about Trump’s comments, while acknowledging the the agency was made up of humans “who make mistakes,” and insisted his key focus was saving lives, not getting caught up in politics.
“No need to use COVID to score political points. You have many other ways to prove yourself,” he said. “Without unity, we can assure you, every country will be in trouble.”
Avoiding any direct mention of Trump, Tedros’ comments testified to the often-delicate task faced by U.N. leaders when criticized by member states. That challenge is especially difficult with the United States, the biggest donor to the world body and its offshoots. At the White House on Tuesday, Trump first said the United States would “put a hold” on WHO funding, and then revised that to say, “We will look at ending funding.” He took aim particularly at its alleged criticism of the U.S. ban on travel to and from China.
“The WHO ... receives vast amounts of money from the United States,” Trump said. “And they actually criticized and disagreed with my travel ban at the time I did it. And they were wrong. They’ve been wrong about a lot of things.”
Generally, the WHO has been careful not to criticize countries on their national polices, and it was not immediately clear what specific criticism Trump was alluding to.
Trump’s remarks came as many governments, particularly in Europe, have started to brush aside, ignore and criticize WHO recommendations on issues of public policy, like whether travel restrictions are warranted or whether the public should wear masks. In guidance that dates to Feb. 29, WHO advises against travel or trade restrictions with regard to countries facing the outbreak - now nearly every country in the world - arguing the measures could divert resources, prevent the delivery of aid, and hurt economies. The United States contributed nearly $900 million to the WHO budget for 2018-2019, according to information on the agency’s website. That represents one-fifth of the WHO’s total $4.4 billion budget for those years.
The U.S. gave nearly three-fourths of the funds in “specified voluntary contributions” and the rest in “assessed” funding as part of Washington’s commitment to U.N. institutions.
A more detailed WHO budget document provided by the U.S. mission in Geneva showed the United States provided $452 million in 2019, including nearly $119 million in assessed funding. In its most recent budget proposal from February, the Trump administration called for slashing the U.S. contribution to the WHO to $57.9 million. Some African leaders and the U.N. chief rallied around Tedros and the agency, insisting a worldwide public health crisis was no time to reduce the budget of the entity working to coordinate an often-disjointed international response. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the WHO “is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against COVID-19” and must be supported. Once the pandemic ends, he said, there must be an investigation into how it emerged and spread so quickly as well as into the reactions of all those involved in the crisis so lessons can be learned.
The chair of the African Union’s commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, wrote on Twitter: “Surprised to learn of a campaign by the U.S. govt against WHO’s global leadership. The African Union fully supports WHO and Dr. Tedros.” Namibia’s President Hage Geingob tweeted that “WHO, under the stewardship of Dr. Tedros, has shown itself to be a true flag-bearer of multilateralism when global solidarity has become critical.”
Some U.S. lawmakers piled on alongside Trump, with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida calling for Tedros to resign. “Unfortunately, it has been politicized,” he said of the WHO on Fox News. “I have deep concerns about it.” ___ Jill Colvin in Washington, Edith M. Lederer in New York, Cara Anna in Johannesburg and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.
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