On January 22, 2026, the United States formally completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), ending nearly 80 years of continuous membership in the global health body. The step follows a notice sent by Donald Trump on his first day in office in 2025 under Executive Order 14155, which directed the U.S. exit from WHO over disagreements with the organization’s pandemic response and governance.
In a joint statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared that “Today, the United States withdrew from the World Health Organisation (WHO), freeing itself from its constraints, as President Trump promised on his first day in office by signing E.O. 14155. This action responds to the WHO’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to rectify the harm from those failures inflicted on the American people.”
The U.S. government cited what it described as the WHO’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of necessary reforms, and undue political influence as central reasons for the withdrawal. The official fact sheet from Health and Human Services notes that U.S. funding and participation in WHO governance and technical committees have ceased, and personnel embedded with the WHO have been recalled.
WHO was established in 1948 as a United Nations specialized agency focused on international public health cooperation. Since its founding, the United States had been both a founding member and historically the largest funder of the organization.
Public health experts and global health authorities have expressed concern that the U.S. exit could weaken global disease surveillance and response systems. Critics argue that withdrawal may hinder access to vital international health data and undermine collaborative efforts to manage future epidemics.
The U.S. remains outside WHO as of late January 2026, pursuing alternative bilateral and multilateral health initiatives outside of the organization’s framework.
