%20(3).png){kind=small}
![TFD [LOGO] (10).png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bea252_c1775b2fb69c4411abe5f0d27e15b130~mv2.png/v1/crop/x_150,y_143,w_1221,h_1193/fill/w_179,h_176,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/TFD%20%5BLOGO%5D%20(10).png)
Trump Spurs 25% Drop Of U.S. Funding For WHO During Pandemic
- By The Financial District
- Jan 26, 2022
- 2 min read
US financial contributions to the World Health Organization (WHO) have fallen by 25% during the coronavirus pandemic, provisional data show, with Washington's future support to the United Nations agency under review, Francesco Guarascio and Emma Farge reported for Reuters.
Photo Insert: Washington paid $672 million to the WHO for its latest two-year budget, down from $893 million in 2018-2019.
The large drop in funding versus the previous two-year period arose from cuts decided by former US President Donald Trump that reveal for the first time the scale of the Trump administration's retreat from the UN body.
US funds are set to go up again in the WHO's next two-year budget following new pledges in December including $280 million by President Joe Biden's administration.
However, the Biden administration has also raised doubts about Washington's future support to the global organization.
The UN agency did with over $200 million less from the US in 2020 and 2021, according to provisional WHO data contained in a budget document reviewed by Reuters that has not yet been made public, though it managed to raise more funds from other donors which enabled an increase of its total budget.
Washington paid $672 million to the WHO for its latest two-year budget, down from $893 million in 2018-2019, the provisional data showed. As a result, the United States is no longer the WHO's top donor, with Germany having replaced it gradually through transfers of more than a billion dollars over the last two years.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A WHO spokesperson did not immediately provide an official comment.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the third-largest donor to the WHO, with $584 million in 2020-21, largely spent on a global program to eradicate polio. The foundation did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Over the past two years, US funds went down mostly in 2020 - Trump's last full year in the White House - amid a sharp fall in so-called voluntary contributions. Funding doubled in 2021 when Biden took over, but the increase was not enough to fully restore the US financing level compared to previous periods.
