President Donald Trump has followed through on a promise he made last week to temporarily halt funding to the World Health Organization for its handling and coverage of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Last week, the President stated that he would be “looking into” defunding the WHO last week. National File was among the first outlets to report on this story, and today’s news deals a devastating blow to uninformed social media users who lied and decried the story as “fake news.”
“Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to asses the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” President Trump said.
The full video can be seen below.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted…"
"American taxpayers provide between $400 million & $500 million per year to the WHO. In contrast, China contributes roughly $40 million." pic.twitter.com/OQMeJO6A8n
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 14, 2020
National File’s previous reporting on the President’s decision can be found below.
President Donald Trump has placed an indefinite and “very powerful” hold on U.S. money for the World Health Organization after the organization has been proven to be repeatedly incorrect in its statements about China’s role in the coronavirus pandemic.
“The WHO receives vast amounts of money from the United States,” President Trump said during a press conference Tuesday.
The “hold” referenced by Trump is not tantamount to cutting funding to the WHO during the pandemic, but rather a temporary measure while the administration “looks very carefully” into the allocation of the funds.
“And they actually criticized and disagreed with my decision with my travel ban, and they were wrong, they’ve been wrong about a lot of things,” President Trump continued, adding, “They’ve been very China-centric.”
The President concluded, “We’re gonna be looking into that very carefully, and we’re going to be putting a hold on money spent to the WHO, we’re gonna put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re gonna see. [The WHO] is a great thing if it works, but when they call every shot wrong that’s no good.”
