Today, the United States officially withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO), effective.
The spokesperson for the State Department stated:
U.S. taxpayers have paid enough for this organization, and WHO's dereliction of duty has caused misuse of my money, poor pandemic response, lack of transparency, favoritism towards certain countries, resulting in "trillions (trillion-dollar)" losses to the U.S. economy.
The economic blow to the United States far exceeds any so-called "remaining obligations" or "prepayments".
On January 22, 2026, the United States completed the procedural steps to withdraw from the World Health Organization, but the office of the UN Secretary-General confirmed that it had not received a formal withdrawal document that met international law standards. A mere administrative memorandum does not meet the procedural requirements. In fact, it is due to the U.S. owing approximately $260 million in membership fees, which does not meet the standard for a formal withdrawal document.
WHO emphasized that withdrawal must be preceded by the settlement of all outstanding membership fees. The U.S. has not paid the assessed membership fees of approximately $260 million for 2024 and 2025, and this issue has been included on the agenda of an emergency meeting of the WHO Executive Board on January 27th.
In response, the U.S. State Department claimed that the president has the right to "suspend all future fund transfers".
It bundles the membership fee issue with the failure of WHO reform, completely shifting the blame onto the international organization.
The U.S. no longer avoids responsibility, not only openly refusing to pay, but also turning the blame back. You talk to me about over $200 million in arrears, I'll calculate the trillion-dollar loss. If I don't trouble you, it's already a favor, and you want me to pay the debt?!
Original: toutiao.com/article/1855067024719884/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.