A5
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, ApRIl 16, 2020
Trump cuts
aid to WHO
Says not enough done to stop virus pandemic
at Trump’s move and warned it
could jeopardize efforts to fight the
coronavirus pandemic. Philanthro-
WASHINGTON — President pists like Bill Gates and Michael
Donald Trump said he was cut- Bloomberg joined European and
ting off U.S. payments to the World African leaders and health experts
Health Organization during the who lined up behind the WHO or
coronavirus pandemic, accusing the insisted the U.S. shouldn’t cut off
organization of failing to do enough funding at such a critical time.
to stop the virus from spreading
While Trump pointed to a U.S.
when it first surfaced in China.
investigation of the U.N. agency,
Trump, who had telegraphed his Tedros stopped short of addressing
intentions last week, claimed the his complaints directly and said the
outbreak could have been contained WHO’s performance in handling
at its source and that lives could the outbreak would be reviewed as
have been saved had the U.N. health part of a “usual process” to ensure
agency done a better job investigat- transparency and accountability.
ing the early reports coming out of
“We regret the decision of the
China.
president of the United States to
“The WHO failed in its basic order a halt in funding to the World
duty and must be held accountable,” Health Organization,” Tedros said.
Trump said at a Tuesday briefing. “WHO is reviewing the impact on
He said the U.S. would be review- our work of any withdrawal of U.S.
ing the WHO’s actions to stop the funding and will work with our part-
ners to fill any
virus before mak-
ing any decision
financial gaps we
on resuming aid.
face.”
‘THE WHO
The
head
“No
doubt,
FAIlEd IN ITS
of the WHO
areas
for
on
Wednes-
improvement
BASIC duTy ANd will be identified
day
lamented
the U.S. deci-
and there will be
MuST BE HEld
sion to halt fund-
lessons for all of
ACCOuNTABlE.’ us to learn,” he
ing for the U.N.
agency, prom-
added. “But for
ising a review
President Donald Trump
now, our focus
of its decisions
– my focus – is
while sidestep-
on stopping this
ping Trump’s complaints about its virus and saving lives.”
alleged mismanagement, cover-up
U.N. Secretary-General Anto-
nio Guterres responded to Trump’s
and missteps.
WHO Director-General Tedros announcement by saying now is
Adhanom Ghebreyesus was on the not the time to end support for the
defensive after Trump’s announced World Health Organization, call-
halt to U.S. funding that has totaled ing the WHO “absolutely criti-
nearly a half-billion dollars annually cal” to the global effort to combat
in recent years. Trump claimed the COVID-19, the disease caused by
WHO had parroted Chinese assur- the coronavirus.
ances about how the virus is spread,
Guterres said that it is possible
failed to obtain virus samples from that different entities read the facts
China, and made a “disastrous deci- differently but that the appropri-
sion” to oppose travel restrictions as ate time for a review is “once we
have finally turned the page on this
the outbreak spread.
Countries and health experts pandemic.”
around the world expressed alarm
“But now is not that time,” he
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Associated press
Alex Brandon/AP Photo
President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus at the White House on Tuesday.
said, adding that it also is not the
time to reduce resources for oper-
ations at the WHO or any other
humanitarian group that is working
to combat the virus.
The United States contributed
nearly $900 million to the WHO’s
budget for 2018-19, according to
information on the agency’s web-
site. That represents one-fifth of its
total $4.4 billion budget for those
years. The U.S. gave nearly three-
fourths of the funds in “specified
voluntary contributions” and the
rest in “assessed” funding as part of
Washington’s commitment to U.N.
institutions.
A more detailed WHO budget
document provided by the U.S. mis-
sion in Geneva showed that in 2019,
the United States provided $452
million, including nearly $119 mil-
lion in assessed funding. In its most
recent budget proposal from Febru-
ary, the Trump administration called
for slashing the U.S. assessed fund-
ing contribution to the WHO to
$57.9 million.
On Tuesday, Trump also said
he’s open to some states “reopen-
ing” before federal social distanc-
ing guidelines expire at the end of
month, as he appeared to back off
his claim of absolute authority to
decide when the time was right to
act.
Hours after suggesting that the
bipartisan concerns of governors
about his assertion of power would
amount to an insurrection, Trump
abruptly reversed course, saying he
would leave it to governors to deter-
mine the right time and manner to
revive activity in their states. Trump
said he would be speaking with gov-
ernors, probably on Thursday, to
discuss his administration’s plans.
“The governors are responsible,”
Trump said Tuesday. “They have to
take charge.”
Still, he insisted, “The governors
will be very, very respectful of the
presidency.”
More than 125,000 deaths world-
wide, including more than 25,000 in
the U.S., have been blamed on the
coronavirus, according to Johns
Hopkins University.
Last week, Trump blasted the
WHO for being “China-centric”
and alleging that it had “criticized”
his ban on travel from China as the
COVID-19 outbreak was spreading
from the city of Wuhan.
The WHO generally takes care
not to criticize countries on their
national policies, and it was not
immediately clear what specific crit-
icism Trump was alluding to.
Trump himself showed def-
erence to China at the beginning
stages of the outbreak.
“China has been working very
hard to contain the Coronavirus,” he
tweeted Jan. 24. “The United States
greatly appreciates their efforts and
transparency. It will all work out
well. In particular, on behalf of the
American People, I want to thank
President Xi!”
Asked Tuesday about the appro-
priateness of seeking to cut the
WHO’s funding in the middle of a
worldwide viral outbreak, Trump
said the review would last 60 to 90
days.
“This is an evaluation period,
but in the meantime, we’re putting
a hold on all funds going to World
Health,” Trump said. He said the
U.S. will continue to engage with
the WHO in pursuit of “meaningful
reforms.”
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