US breaks with WHO: "Failed to make necessary reforms"

Donald Trump's message was clear during Friday night's press conference.

- They failed to make the necessary reforms. We will therefore end our relationship with WHO today, he said.

He added that the money the US has previously contributed to WHO now will instead go to other organizations.

The message came during a press conference that was really about the US relationship with China. However, SVT's foreign reporter Fouad Youcefi, who is in the US, was not surprised.

- This is a rhetoric that the US administration has had for some time now. They came out very clearly against the World Health Organization a few weeks ago and accused the organization of basically being ruled by China and being Chinese-centric, as President Trump has repeatedly said, he says.

In connection with this, the WHO was given a deadline within which they would implement a number of reforms. How and if the WHO has responded to the reforms is unclear. It is also unclear exactly what will happen now.

"We have to wait and see the US will do in practice to make this very clear message from Donald Trump a reality," says Fouad Youcefi.

He continues:

- The United States pays $ 450 million annually to the WHO. Part of this is a kind of membership fee and the other part is voluntary contributions. If I understand the president right, he wants to end both contributions to the WHO and then it is a very big hole in the wallet for the organization that now really has a lot to do around the world with the pandemic that still ravages. Now the question is whether there are other countries or organizations that will make up for the budget cut that the US message today will entail.