On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), claiming the agency mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and that U.S. financial contributions were unfairly high compared to other countries
| Scope | Negative Consequences | Positive Consequences |
|---|---|---|
| Global Health | Funding gaps for health programs in LMICs, reduced U.S. policy influence, increased health inequities, weaker collaboration | Wake-up call for multilateral reform |
| U.S. Domestic | Lost technical advice, less access to surveillance/warnings, research setbacks, weakened health security | Minor and short-term fiscal savings |
The overall expert consensus is that the U.S. exit from the WHO dimensions global health governance, raises pandemic risks, and undermines U.S. scientific leadership, for little domestic gain[9][1][2][8][4].