Trump announces US ‘terminating’ relationship with WHO

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President Trump announced Friday that the U.S. is "terminating" its relationship with the embattled World Health Organization (WHO) over its failure to enact reforms in the face of concerns over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its pro-China bias.

"Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs," Trump told reporters at a Rose Garden event.

TRUMP FIRES BACK AGAINST CHINA'S 'MASSIVE DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN' ABOUT CORONAVIRUS

In the course of the same statement, Trump announced a number of measures aimed primarily at China in response to its conduct on a number of fronts including trade, the coronavirus and its recent crackdown on Hong Kong.

"The world is now suffering as a result of the misfeasance of the Chinese government," Trump said.

Trump announced last month that the U.S. would freeze froze funding to the WHO, and threatened to make the freeze permanent if the organization did not enact "major substantive reforms." The U.S. had been the top contributor to the agency to the tune of approximately $450 million a year. China meanwhile pays approximately $50 million a year -- although Beijing had recently announced a $2 billion injection of funds.

The U.S. has raised concerns about WHO officials' praise of Chinese "transparency," its ignoring of warnings about the virus from Taiwan, and its repetition of Chinese claims that COVID-19 could not be spread from person-to-person. Trump has also pointed to opposition from WHO officials to his decision to place a travel ban on China in the initial days of the crisis.