According to Bloomberg, the United States has completed its participation in the World Health Organization (WHO), leaving a debt of $260 million.
This decision to exit was signed by President Donald Trump at the beginning of his second presidential term. According to the U.S. Constitution, a one-year notification to the WHO and the settlement of all financial obligations are required for a final exit from the organization.
The exit procedure was completed on January 22, when funding for the WHO was halted, and staff were withdrawn from all offices and headquarters. However, as Bloomberg notes, the debt to the organization has not been settled.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health Secretary Robert Kennedy criticized the WHO in a joint statement for its demands for compensation and emphasized that the U.S. remained "the main founder, the largest financial sponsor, and the primary defender" of this organization until the very end.
Trump explained the reasons for exiting the WHO by citing the organization's actions during the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing it of insufficient independence from political pressure from member states and of excessively high payments compared to other countries.
According to NPR, the U.S. debt for 2024-2025 amounts to $278 million.
