WASHINGTON, D.C. – Shortly after being sworn in, President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday initiating a United States withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). The order marks the second time President Trump has sought to withdraw the nation from the global health body, an effort that Joe Biden reversed in 2021.

Citing the WHO’s “mishandling” of the COVID-19 pandemic and “inappropriate political influence” from some of its member states, President Trump ordered newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Office of Management and Budget to carry out the withdrawal.

The order reads that the U.S. shall “cease negotiations” on the WHO Pandemic Agreement and International Health Regulations and that such agreements and amendments “will have no binding force on the United States.”  

The order specifically mandates the federal government to, with all “practicable speed,”: 

• “pause the future transfer of any United States Government funds, support, or resources to the WHO;
• recall and reassign U.S. government personnel or contractors working in any capacity with the WHO;
• and find credible and transparent U.S. and international partners to replace the necessary activities previously undertaken by the WHO.” 

President Trump also ordered the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs to work with the entire National Security Council apparatus to take actions to safeguard public health. 

Liberty Counsel Action Chairman Mat Staver said, “President Donald Trump’s executive order keeps American sovereignty intact and stops the World Health Organization’s attempt to exert unprecedented control over America. Liberty Counsel Action has been working toward this goal for more than six years. Congress must now respond and permanently codify this order to ensure our constitutional freedoms are protected.”

Liberty Counsel Action is a 501(c)(4), nonprofit, grassroots organization advancing religious and civil liberties, the sanctity of human life, the family, limited and responsible government, national security, and support for Israel in Washington D.C. and across America.