Trump questions WHO decision-making

President Donald Trump wants to withhold U.S. aid from the World Health Organization for its “China-centric” messaging concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. He cited on Tuesday the agency’s bungled early warnings about the disease. The United States is the WHO’s largest overall contributor and gave nearly $14.7 million to the agency’s COVID-19 response fund. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused Trump of “politicizing” the coronavirus.

Is WHO really in China’s pocket? Some critics say the WHO deserves the scrutiny. ChinaAid President Bob Fu said the WHO’s actions show it “has become a puppet to the Chinese Communist Party rather than [prioritizing] the health interests of the global community.” During the early days of the outbreak, the organization repeated China’s claim that the virus was not spread by human-to-human transmission, despite whistleblower reports to the contrary. In January, the WHO criticized Trump for closing U.S. borders to Chinese travelers.

Dig deeper: Read June Cheng’s report on why China’s death toll figures are not trustworthy.