The United States has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), a process that began after President Trump announced plans to leave the organization on January 20, 2025. The decision was made due to what U.S. officials described as WHO’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, failure to implement reforms, and lack of independence from political influence among member states.
According to a joint statement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of State, “the United States’ completion of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) [is] due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
Over the past year, as part of this process, the U.S. ceased funding for WHO, removed all personnel involved with the organization, and shifted activities previously conducted through WHO toward direct bilateral partnerships with other countries and organizations. Going forward, coordination with WHO will be limited and focused only on matters necessary for completing the withdrawal.
U.S. officials criticized WHO’s response at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. They stated that “the WHO delayed declaring a global public health emergency and a pandemic during the early stages of COVID-19, costing the world critical weeks as the virus spread.” The statement further noted that during this period “WHO leadership echoed and praised China’s response despite evidence of early underreporting, suppression of information and delays in confirming human-to-human transmission.” Officials also pointed out that WHO downplayed risks related to asymptomatic transmission and did not promptly acknowledge airborne spread.
Afterward, according to U.S. authorities, “the WHO did not adopt meaningful reforms to address political influence, governance weaknesses or poor coordination,” which they argue reinforced concerns about prioritizing politics over independent public health action. The statement also referenced criticism over an evaluation report by WHO on COVID-19 origins: “Its report evaluating the possible origins of COVID-19 rejected the possibility that scientists created the virus, even though China refused to provide genetic sequences from individuals infected early in the pandemic and information on the Wuhan laboratories’ activities and biosafety conditions.”
The administration emphasized continued U.S. leadership in global health efforts outside of WHO channels: “The U.S. is the world’s leading force in protecting public health, saving lives and responding rapidly to infectious disease outbreaks.” Future efforts will focus on direct engagement with countries, private sector partners, non-governmental organizations, and faith-based groups in areas such as emergency response and biosecurity.
For more information on CDC’s ongoing role in protecting national security through rapid identification and response to disease threats—regardless of their origin—the agency continues investing in local initiatives aimed at safeguarding public health across communities.
