Trump says he's contemplating restoring some WHO funding but has not made a 'final decision'


President Trump said Saturday he's entertaining the idea of restoring some funding for the World Health Organization, though the United States' payments to the international agency remain frozen.
Fox News' Tucker Carlson on Friday obtained a draft letter addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that said the Trump administration will "agree to pay up to what China pays in assessed contributions." Carlson said he was told Trump had at least agreed to the plan — if he hadn't signed it already — and a senior administration official reportedly confirmed the news.
But Trump indicated that wasn't the case Saturday, informing an angry Lou Dobbs that he has yet to make a "final decision" and that the proposal was just one of many ideas under consideration.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
Trump paused WHO funding in April over what he said was its failure to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, while also accusing the organization of having a pro-China bias. Read more at Fox News and The Wall Street Journal.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot