Trump's transition team plans immediate withdrawal from WHO?

(Patria) - Members of Donald Trump's presidential transition team are laying the groundwork for the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the first day of his second term, according to a health law expert familiar with the discussions, Reuters reported.

"I have information that they plan to withdraw, probably on the first day or very early in the term," said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health at Georgetown University in Washington.

The Financial Times first reported on the plans, citing two experts. Another expert, former White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha, was not immediately available for comment. Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

The plan, which aligns with Trump's long-standing criticism of the UN health agency, would mark a dramatic shift in US global health policy and further isolate Washington from international efforts to combat the pandemic.

Trump has nominated several critics of the organization to top public health positions, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic who ran for Secretary of Health and Human Services, which oversees all major US health agencies, including the CDC and FDA.

Trump initiated a one-year withdrawal process from the WHO in 2020, but six months later, his successor, President Joe Biden, reversed the decision. Trump had claimed the agency failed to hold China accountable for the early spread of COVID-19. He repeatedly called the WHO a puppet of Beijing and vowed to redirect US contributions to domestic health initiatives.

A WHO spokesperson declined to comment directly but referred Reuters to remarks by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing on December 10, when he was asked if he was concerned about the Trump administration withdrawing from the organization.

Tedros said at the time that the WHO must give the US time and space to transition. He also expressed confidence that countries could finalize a pandemic agreement by May 2025. Critics warn that a US withdrawal could undermine global disease surveillance and emergency response systems.

"The US would lose influence and leverage in global health, and China would fill the vacuum. I cannot imagine a world without a strong WHO. But a US withdrawal would seriously weaken the agency," Gostin said.