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President Trump Cuts Off Funding For World Health Organization Over COVID-19 Handling

(screenshot/YouTube/White House)

Anders Hagstrom White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump has officially cut off America’s funding for the World Health Organization Tuesday, saying the international group had contributed to China’s misinformation on the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. has been the single largest donor to the WHO for many years. It contributes more than $400 million annually, while China contributes just $40 million, the president said. Trump has repeatedly criticized the WHO for being too “China-centric” in recent weeks, but the administration has stopped short of criticizing China directly so far.

“The WHO’s reliance on China’s disclosures likely caused a twenty-fold increase in cases worldwide, and it may be much more than that,” Trump said Tuesday. “The WHO has not addressed a single one of these concerns nor provided a serious explanation that acknowledges its own mistakes, of which there are many.” (RELATED: Elite American Institutions Keep Bowing To Communist China… Over And Over Again)

WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ criticized Trump earlier regarding a potential funding freeze. He advised Trump to stop “politicizing” the crisis if he wanted to avoid “more body-bags.”

China’s official statistics — which the WHO has endorsed — have significantly downplayed both deaths and cases of the coronavirus in the country, according to both media and the U.S. intelligence community. (RELATED: US Ramps Up Crackdown On China’s Spying Efforts During Coronavirus)

The U.S. intelligence community had reportedly concluded by mid-March that China was actively falsifying its coronavirus cases and death numbers during and after the outbreak in Wuhan. The official statistics say just over 2,500 people died of the virus in the city of 11 million, but new reports suggest the true number is over 40,000.

The number rose based on the output of burial urns from the city’s eight mortuaries, which sent out roughly 3,500 total per day between March 23 and April 4.

The U.S. may reinstate its funding to the WHO following a review.