White House Working on Plan to Cut Aid to WHO
By NBC News. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget is working on a possible plan to cut U.S. aid to the World Health Organization, administration officials said Wednesday, as President Donald Trump tries to deflect blame for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Administration officials said they also plan to look into the timeline of the WHO’s reaction to the coronavirus after it first appeared in China, as well as “links” to China.
“What the WHO knew and how it reacted to that knowledge is relevant to the U.S. government’s response to the crisis,” a senior administration official said. (Read more from “White House Working on Plan to Cut Aid to WHO” HERE)
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Trump Escalates Tension With World Health Organization Over Coronavirus Pandemic, Repeats Threat to Withhold Funding
By CNBC. U.S. President Donald Trump escalated tension with the World Health Organization on Wednesday, once again criticizing the agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and threatening to withhold funding.
“So we’re going to do a study, an investigation, and we’re going to make a determination as to what we’re doing. In the meantime, we’re holding back,” Trump said at a White House press conference Wednesday. It was not immediately clear from the president’s comment if he was “holding back” on the funding or probe of the WHO.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration is reevaluating the WHO’s funding, adding that the United Nation’s health organization hasn’t “achieved what it intended to do,” particularly in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Organizations have to work. They have to deliver the outcomes for which they were intended,” Pompeo said. “We need to make sure that, not only the World Health Organization but every international organization that we take taxpayer money and give it to them for the benefit of America, we need to make sure it’s delivering on those tax payer dollars.” (Read more from “Trump Escalates Tension With World Health Organization Over Coronavirus Pandemic, Repeats Threat to Withhold Funding” HERE)
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