WORLD LEADERS SLAM TRUMP FOR EXITING WHO

US President Donald Trump has been condemned anew for withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) as global COVID-19 cases topped 6-million and 366,000 have died, more than 102,000 of them in the US.

In a story written by Celine Le Prioux and Daniel Lawler for the Agence France Presse (AFP) on May 31, 2020, the European Union (EU) urged Washington to reconsider its decision to permanently cut funding to the WHO, whom Trump accuses to be a puppet of China even as the US has been delayed in remitting its annual $400 million contribution to the global agency.

"Now is the time for enhanced cooperation and common solutions," the EU said in a statement, adding: "Actions that weaken international results must be avoided." Trump initially suspended funding to the WHO last month, accusing it of not doing enough to curb the early spread of the virus and being too lenient with China, where COVID-19 emerged late last year, even after he had praised WHO and China earlier for moving decisively against the pandemic.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said the "disappointing" decision was a setback for global health, while Chancellor Angela Merkel declined to attend an in-person G7 summit that Trump had suggested he would host. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet medical journal, said it was "madness and terrifying both at the same time. The US government has gone rogue at a time of humanitarian emergency." Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University and a WHO collaborator, questioned Trump's ability to withdraw from the agency without congressional approval, saying the threat was "unlawful, reckless and dangerous."