President Donald Trump has expressed a willingness to rejoin the World Health Organization (WHO), despite withdrawing the United States from the organization just days prior. During a rally in Las Vegas, Trump stated that it was unfair for the US to pay $500 million annually to the WHO, while China pays only $39 million despite having a much larger population.
Trump cited the disparity in contributions as a reason for potentially rejoining the WHO, but noted that the organization would need to “clean up a bit” before he would consider doing so. The US currently pays around 10% of the WHO’s budget, while China pays around 3%.
The president’s decision to withdraw from the WHO was announced in an executive order issued shortly after his inauguration, citing the organization’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, its failure to adopt reforms, and the “unfairly onerous payments” the US is forced to make.
Trump’s comments on the WHO’s funding structure mirror his complaints about US participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), where he has demanded that member countries contribute 5% of their gross domestic product to defense spending. The president has also questioned whether the US should be spending anything on NATO at all, given that other member countries are not contributing as much as they should.