Coronavirus – Trump: United States halts WHO contributions – Coronavirus –

WHO’s mismanagement and China’s reliance on information has dramatically worsened the epidemic and spread it across the world, Trump said at the White House rose garden news conference. The organization’s numerous mistakes are responsible for “so many deaths,” Trump said. In particular, the President criticized the fact that the WHO had spoken out against China’s entry bans. Trump continued to criticize this policy for wasting “valuable time” to contain the epidemic.

The WHO also did not critically and immediately review the information provided by the Chinese government. With faster and more determined intervention by the WHO, the epidemic could have been limited to its place of origin with just a few deaths, Trump said.

Trump had made serious accusations against the WHO last week and said the organization had “really ruined” the pandemic. He then threatened WHO to stop paying contributions. Trump had suggested that the WHO “probably” knew more at the start of the pandemic than he revealed. Trump had also complained that the WHO was too focused on China, despite the United States paying a large chunk of the WHO budget.

The WHO, based in Geneva, is the principal health agency of the United Nations. According to the organization, less than a quarter of its budget consists of mandatory contributions from member states.

However, the United States is the largest taxpayer in this group: almost $ 116 million must be paid by 2020 and 2021, respectively. China’s contribution for these two years is around $ 57 million each. China’s contributions have increased significantly in recent years: in 2018 and 2019, they were still at $ 37.9 million each, while remaining almost the same in the United States. The amount of membership fees depends on the size of the population and the prosperity of the country, according to the WHO.

The WHO had countered Trump’s allegations and threats with a dramatic appeal. Abusing the coronavirus for political ends is the most damaging thing that can happen now, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva last week. Only the unit helps “if you don’t want to risk many more body bags.”

With regard to the WHO, the impression emerged that Trump wants to distract himself from his own mistakes in the crisis. The Republican had long publicly downplayed the risk of the corona virus. He maintained until early March that the virus was not a cause for concern for the United States. Trump is now vehemently opposed to the claim that he reacted too slowly to the outbreak and claims that he has done everything in his power and listened to expert advice.