Scoop: Trump leans toward keeping total cut to WHO funding [View all]

[catbyte]

42 mins ago - Health

Jonathan Swan

President Trump is leaning toward preserving his total funding cut for the World Health Organization after being on the brink of announcing he'd restore partial funding, according to three sources familiar with the situation. A fourth source, a senior administration official, cautioned that the decision-making was fluid and was still subject to change.

Behind the scenes: Trump spent his weekend at Camp David with some of his closest Republican allies in the House of Representatives. A source familiar with the private discussions said that House members at Camp David pressed Trump "to not give a dime to WHO."

A second source familiar with the situation at Camp David qualified the first source's remarks by saying, "That's where the president's head is at as well. So it was more reaffirming his position."

The big picture: Last month, Trump shocked the world by announcing he was freezing U.S. funding to the WHO, pending an investigation into the global health agency and its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has eviscerated the organization, describing it as controlled by China and grossly negligent in the early days of the outbreak. He has also used the issue to deflect from criticisms of his own handling of the virus.

snip

https://www.axios.com/trump-world-health-organization-funding-cut-e4d0f14f-02f2-4f84-82c3-8e253cae115a.html