Overview
- With the one-year notice now expired, the World Health Organization is operating without its largest funder after the United States formally left on January 22.
- Washington withheld required 2024–2025 contributions of roughly $260–$280 million, and although payment was a nominal condition for withdrawal, the WHO has no means to compel it.
- President Trump justified the move by citing the WHO’s handling of COVID-19, lack of reforms, and alleged Chinese influence, and he labeled the organization corrupt this week.
- The WHO projects a roughly 20% budget shortfall—over half a billion euros annually—and has launched a savings program that includes cutting staff by about one fifth to around 7,300 by midyear.
- Officials and experts warn the departure removes U.S. technical participation from early warning systems and flu vaccine coordination and could impair programs for diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV, while Germany and major philanthropies pledge only partial backfill and the WHO board plans to discuss the exit in February.