Jimmy Carter ‘distressed’ by Trump halting funding to WHO

Former President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday became the latest figure to criticize President Trump’s announcement that he will halt U.S. funding to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“I am distressed by the decision to withhold critically needed U.S. funding for the World Health Organization, especially during an international pandemic,” Carter said in a statement released by the Carter Center on Wednesday afternoon.

“WHO is the only international organization capable of leading the effort to control this virus,” Carter added.

Statement by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: pic.twitter.com/6W5DUcH2aF

— The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) April 15, 2020

Trump announced the halt to funding Tuesday, criticizing the WHO for its condemnation of his restrictions on travel from China during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak and accusing the organization of over-reliance on the Chinese government’s assurances. Both Trump and the WHO praised Chinese leadership on the virus in early 2020.

“We regret the decision of the president of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organization,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said at a news briefing Wednesday.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that the funding decision would be “swiftly challenged” and called it unlawful.

“We can only be successful in defeating this global pandemic through a coordinated international response with respect for science and data,” Pelosi said Wednesday. “But sadly, as he has since Day One, the President is ignoring global health experts, disregarding science and undermining the heroes fighting on the frontline, at great risk to the lives and livelihoods of Americans and people around the world.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also opposed the decision, with executive Vice President Myron Brilliant saying it “is not in U.S. interests given the organization’s critical role assisting other countries — particularly in the developing world — in their response.”