President Donald Trump’s decision to end U.S. membership in the World Health Organization revives a five-year-old grudge with the WHO’s leader. Trump has long charged that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus covered up China’s responsibility for the Covid pandemic,

Ooh, that’s a big one,” Donald Trump said Monday as he signed an executive order – one of dozens during his first hours as president – to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization.

Public health experts say the United States’ departure could cripple the WHO’s operations or leave an opening for China to assume greater control over the agency.

As part of his blitz of executive orders, President Trump delivered on a promise to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization. The Trump White House accuses the WHO of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic and bias toward China.

China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO,” said President Trump.

The United States will leave the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump said on Monday, saying the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.

The U.S. has traditionally been the most generous benefactor of the WHO. A Trump executive order to cut ties with the WHO could pose a threat to global public health.

In a day-one executive order, President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization for a second time.