Former FDA commissioner doesn't think Trump should pull WHO funding, but says president has some valid concerns

President Trump has said he's reviewing whether to pull funding from the World Health Organization because he believes it allowed China to get away with hiding the truth about the novel COVID-19 coronavirus within its borders. Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb doesn't believe now is the time to make a decision like that, especially because he's concerned about the virus taking off in the Southern Hemisphere where several countries lack the necessary health infrastructure. But he does think the president raises some valid concerns.

"China was not truthful with the world at the outset of this," Gottlieb told CBS' Margaret Brennan on Sunday's edition of Face the Nation, adding that if Beijing had been upfront about things, they may have been able to contain the virus entirely.

And he doesn't think the WHO is blameless, either, since it was validating Chinese claims as late as Jan. 14 that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. The organization, he said, also didn't compel Beijing to share the viral strains, which would have allowed diagnostic tests to be produced earlier around the world.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Instead of getting stripped of major U.S. funding, though, Gottlieb thinks the WHO needs to launch a report into how China handled things. He also echoed an ever-more popular talking point among analysts that the organization needs to "embrace Taiwan's role and allow them to attend the World Health Assembly." As things stand, the WHO has "frozen" Taiwan out, at "the behest of China," Gottlieb said. Tim O'Donnell