The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee initiated an investigation on President Donald Trump’s decision to end the funding of the World Health Organization (WHO). The State Department must provide detailed information about the president’s move within a week.
The committee’s chairman, Eliot Engel, admitted that the
United Nation’s health agency was not perfect, but cutting the funding was too
much. The Democrat said
in a letter to Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State:
“Certainly, cutting the WHO’s funding while the world confronts the COVID-19 tragedy is not the answer.”
On April 14, Trump ceased the US funding to the WHO, suspecting it of promoting China’s ‘disinformation’ about the COVID pandemic. The president pledged to launch an in-depth review of the international organization.
WHO’s top officials denied Trump’s accusations, while China claims it has been quite transparent.
The US president’s move sparked criticism as the US is the WHO’s biggest donor, following by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Some Democrats accused Trump of using the WHO and China
rhetoric as a distraction from his disastrous management of the coronavirus
outbreak, which has killed about 55,000 in the US.