WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

‘You’re being ripped off’: Trump believes that World Health Organization ‘rips off’ the United States

In an unexpected move, President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO). Trump’s rationale blames WHO for a variety of issues.

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A reporter asked Trump about the importance of WHO, especially since he was the president during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Don’t you see the importance of an organization like that to coordinate a global response?” Surprisingly, Trump agreed—but made a strange claim against WHO.

“Sure, I do, but not when we’re being ripped off by the World Health [Organization]. World Health rips us off—everybody rips off the United States, and that’s it. It’s not gonna happen anymore.” How exactly WHO ripped the United States is unclear, but Trump seems satisfied with his own answer.

Trump is far more detailed with his decision in his own executive order. According to the document, the United States will “pause the future transfer of any United States government funds, support, or resources to the WHO.” Even US government personnel and contractors will be recalled and reassigned. Additionally, the executive order indicates that Trump intends to have “international partners assume necessary activities previously undertaken by the WHO.” Perhaps Trump wants to replace the WHO. How that organization will differ from the current international organization is a mystery.

Failure to take accountability

Trump has already caught flak for this swift decision online. One X user wrote, “He’s begging for bird flu to spread, isn’t he?” Another commenter condemned him, claiming that the president “hasn’t learned a thing” from the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter seems to be the case because Trump also blamed WHO for ‘mishandling’ the COVID-19 pandemic. Never mind that Trump notoriously undermined the severity of COVID-19. Notably, his administration was slow in responding to the COVID-19 crisis, and Trump was reluctant to implement mitigation policies.


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Vanessa Esguerra
Vanessa Esguerra (She/They) has been a Contributing Writer for The Mary Sue since 2023. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy, she (happily) rejected law school in 2021 and has been a full-time content writer since. Vanessa is currently taking her Master's degree in Japanese Studies in hopes of deepening her understanding of the country's media culture in relation to pop culture, women, and queer people like herself. She speaks three languages but still manages to get lost in the subways of Tokyo with her clunky Japanese. Fueled by iced coffee brewed from local cafés in Metro Manila, she also regularly covers anime and video games while queuing for her next match in League of Legends.