The BMJ: Global health under fire: Trump and covid are just two of the threats
“On 29 May 2020 President Donald Trump announced a halt to U.S. funding for the World Health Organization, claiming that the body had mismanaged its efforts to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. The announcement came after a series of threats over the past few months. WHO regularly has to chase American funding. The U.S. has not paid its mandatory dues for 2020, nor has it paid most of 2019’s bill … It is not alone, however: others in arrears include major funders such as China … In an interview with The BMJ before Trump’s most recent announcement, Amanda Glassman, executive vice president at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C., said she didn’t think a change in U.S. funding would immediately affect WHO’s coronavirus efforts. ‘But it could have devastating long term impacts,’ she said…” (Kardas-Nelsonl, 6/8).

Vanity Fair: Exclusive: The Secret Plan to Unwithdraw From the WHO After Trump’s ‘Bizarre,’ ‘Ruinous’ Exit
“…The stunning announcement came 11 days into a frantic scramble by career health officials and U.S. diplomats to salvage America’s relationship with the WHO after Trump lashed out at the organization in a four-page letter citing its ‘alarming lack of independence’ from China. According to documents obtained by Vanity Fair, officials were still compiling a coherent set of steps that the WHO could take to satisfy Trump when he made his unilateral decision to pull out. Now, Vanity Fair has learned, secret negotiations aimed at reversing Trump’s decision have begun between Ambassador [Andrew Bremberg, the U.S. ambassador in Geneva,] and the WHO’s director general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. A phone call Saturday between the two men resulted in a possible framework agreement to restore the relationship, which the U.S. diplomatic corps views as essential to the global fight against coronavirus and myriad other public health issues…” (Eban, 6/8).

Xinhua: U.S. exit from WHO to undermine global fight against COVID-19: experts and officials
“The U.S. exit from the World Health Organization (WHO) would undermine international efforts to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic that guarantee public health and save lives, officials and experts have warned. … Experts have voiced their concerns over the U.S. decision, saying the move is undermining the irreplaceable role of the WHO in coordinating global efforts in combating COVID-19” (6/8).