The move deprives the global health body of its biggest donor and deepens a funding crisis that WHO officials warn is already undermining essential health services around the world. Public health experts say the decision could weaken both global health security and U.S. public health.
Máta explains what has changed, why it happened and what it means.
What happened?
On January 22, 2026, the US announced that it had completed its withdrawal from the WHO, a year after President Trump signed an executive order on January 20, 2025 directing the government to begin withdrawing, a move he also attempted during his first term in 2020 over the organization’s “response to Covid-19”.
Over the past year, Washington has cut off all funding to the WHO, and US staff and contractors assigned to or embedded with the agency have been withdrawn from WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and from WHO offices around the world, according to an overview released by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Thursday.
Hundreds of U.S. engagements with the WHO have been suspended or terminated, and the country has ceased official participation in WHO-sponsored committees, governing bodies, governing bodies and technical working groups, HHS said.
Why did the US leave?
The Trump administration said it withdrew from the WHO due to “its mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its failure to demonstrate independence from inappropriate political influence by WHO member states,” the HHS statement said.
In a joint statement, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the WHO of not sharing “critical information that could have saved American lives” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The administration also argued that the WHO was asking the US to pay unfairly high rates compared to other countries. “With a population of 1.4 billion, China has 300% of the population of the United States, but contributes nearly 90% less to the WHO,” according to a January 20, 2025, White House executive order.
WHO is funded primarily through assessed contributions—membership contributions paid by countries as a percentage of their gross domestic product as decided by the United Nations General Assembly—and voluntary contributions from governments and other partners. Assessed contributions make up less than 20% of the organization’s total budget.
What is the dispute now?
While the US has historically been the largest donor to the WHO in both estimated and voluntary contributions, it has not paid its dues for 2024 and 2025, leaving $260 million in dues.
The WHO has argued that the US can withdraw only after meeting its financial obligations for the current fiscal year. The US State Department disputes that interpretation, with an official telling Reuters on Thursday that “the American people have paid more than enough”.
“In recent years, U.S. assessed contributions (mandatory fees) have averaged approximately $111 million per year. In addition, the United States has made voluntary contributions averaging approximately $570 million per year — amounting to billions of dollars over time — often exceeding the combined contributions of many other member states,” HHS said.
How will this affect the WHO?
In 2022–23, the US contributed $1.284 billion to the WHO, representing roughly 12–15% of the agency’s total budget.
The loss of US funding has already plunged the organization into a financial crisis. According to a November 2025 Reuters report, the WHO said its workforce could shrink by as much as 22% by mid-2026.
The agency expects to cut 2,371 jobs by June 2026 from 9,401 positions in January 2025, excluding retirements and other departures. It also faces a $1.06 billion gap in its 2026-27 budget.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in May that the organization was facing “the biggest disruption to global health financing in memory” as contributions fell across the board. In November, the WHO issued guidance to countries on how to cope with funding cuts that are “disrupting the provision of essential health services in many countries”.
What do public health experts say?
Public health experts condemned the US withdrawal, warning that it would weaken global health security and harm US public health.
“A weaker World Health Organization means a less safe US,” said Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and former New York City health commissioner, in a post on X, noting that the WHO is the only organization that enables global monitoring of health threats.
Public health organizations have also warned that reduced coordination will make all countries more vulnerable.
“This decision risks undermining decades of progress…Without (the U.S.), the organization’s ability to address global health crises will be severely weakened, putting health everywhere at risk,” Michele Bratcher Goodwin and Lawrence O. Gostin, co-faculty directors of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, said in a statement.
