Overview
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the move makes the United States and the rest of the world less safe and urged Washington to reconsider and rejoin.
- The one-year process triggered by President Donald Trump’s January 2025 order is due to reach its target date next week, yet officials say the formal status remains unclear.
- WHO legal officer Steve Solomon said the organization’s constitution contains no withdrawal clause and that a 1948 U.S. arrangement sets conditions for departure.
- Solomon said the United States is in arrears for 2024 and 2025 and that member states must decide whether the withdrawal conditions have been met.
- Tedros warned the exit would cut the U.S. off from WHO disease surveillance, coordination, and emergency response systems that support pandemic preparedness.