Staff Reports
The U.S. officially completed its withdrawal from the WHO Jan. 22.
The exit was enacted following a one-year notice period that began when President Donald Trump signed an executive order Jan. 20, 2025.
In a joint statement, Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the WHO “strayed from its core mission and has acted contrary to U.S. interests in protecting the U.S. public on multiple occasions.”
The HHS has focused much of its critique on the WHO’s actions during the Covid pandemic, claiming that it delayed its response in declaring Covid to be a global health emergency and and saying the organization unfairly criticized Trump for actions such as shutting down travel from certain foreign countries during the early days of the pandemic.
The department also argued that other countries, such as China, have been contributing less monetarily than the U.S., and that there has never been an American director-general of the WHO despite the amount of money the U.S. contributed.
Public health experts argue withdrawing from the WHO compromises U.S. safety by cutting off vital early-warning networks for infectious diseases, reducing international coordination, and diminishing American influence in shaping global health standards. Key reasons critics opposed the departure include:
- Disease Surveillance & Response: The U.S. loses direct access to the WHO’s global laboratory network and data-sharing infrastructure, which are crucial for tracking outbreaks like influenza, polio, and emerging pathogens before they cross borders.
- Soft Power & Influence: Leaving creates a geopolitical vacuum. It allows other nations—particularly European countries and China—to dictate health policies, negotiate international treaties, and set standards without American input.
- Clinical Trials & Collaboration: The WHO facilitates the clinical trials and international collaboration essential for developing vaccines and therapeutics upon which Americans rely.
- Domestic Safety through Global Health: Because infectious diseases are planetary and do not respect borders, letting outbreaks spiral in under-resourced countries directly increases the risk of those diseases entering the United States via global trade and travel.
