President Donald Trump threatened to permanently freeze US funding to the World Health Organization unless “substantive improvements” were made within the next 30 days.
Washington suspended payments to the WHO in mid-April, accusing it of being too close to Beijing and covering up and mismanaging the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump writes letter to WHO
On Monday, Trump tweeted images of a letter he sent to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying the letter was “self-explanatory.”
This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020
In the letter, Trump lists what he says are examples of the WHO’s shortcomings in managing the pandemic, including ignoring early reports of the emergence of the virus, and being too close to China.
“It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China,” Trump said in the letter.
“Check yourself before you wreck yourself”: Trump to WHO
“If the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization,” he said.
Read more: Trump faces backlash within administration over WHO fund halt
Earlier Monday, the WHO said it would launch an independent review of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
During a virtual assembly, Tedros acknowledged there had been shortcomings and told the assembly he welcomed calls for a review.
Coronavirus in the USAÂ
The letter comes at a remarkable time, considering the stage of the coronavirus curve that the United States is in. The United States has 1.54 million confirmed cases with 90,694 deaths so far. Experts predict that both numbers are going to increase substantially.
AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk