The divorce between the United States and the discredited World Health Organization (WHO) became official on Thursday, almost exactly a year after President Donald Trump approved the withdrawal.
There’s just one tiny catch. Under America’s own laws, the United States MUST offer a year’s advance notice (already done) AND pay all outstanding debts (not done).
According to NPR, the WHO says that, despite the divorce being official, America still owes $278 million — none of which it intends to pay.
“The United States will not be making any payments to the WHO before our withdrawal,” the State Department told NPR. “The cost borne by the U.S. taxpayer and U.S. economy after the WHO’s failure during the Covid pandemic — and since — has been too high as it is.”
Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University and the director of WHO’s Center on National and Global Health Law, likened the dispute to “a very, very public and messy divorce” between a man and a woman.
“The man says, ‘No, I’m not going to pay you any money, and we’re no longer married,'” Gostin said. “And the woman says, ‘No, you can’t not be married unless you pay me.'”
Oof.
🚨🇺🇸 U.S. OFFICIALLY EXITS WHO TODAY WITHOUT PAYING $260 MILLION IN OWED FEES
The U.S. officially exits the World Health Organization today, one year after Trump signed the executive order on his first day back in office.
Under U.S. law, Washington is required to pay $260… pic.twitter.com/Rw6Dsn4554
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 22, 2026
Brett Schaefer, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, wasn’t impressed by this metaphor or the WHO’s demands.
“[WHO] comes across, in my mind, as somewhat juvenile, like a boyfriend saying to his girlfriend: ‘You can’t break up with me because you still have my promise ring,'” he told NPR. “I’m sorry, that’s not quite the way these things work.”
Aside from this, the only other catch, per se, is that there’s now a burgeoning movement to convince President Trump to rejoin the WHO.
“[T]he race is on to convince President Donald Trump he should rejoin,” Politico bluntly reported.
The network added that “[t]he key to a potential return is who becomes the leader of the WHO next year and whether Trump likes them.”
Current WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently called for Trump to reconsider.
“I hope the U.S. will reconsider and rejoin WHO,” Ghebreyesus said at a news conference earlier this month. “Withdrawing from the WHO is a loss for the United States, and it’s a loss for the rest of the world.”
But according to Politico, Trump has a problem with Ghebreyesus.
“Trump has long charged that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus covered up China’s responsibility for the Covid pandemic, and also aided Democrats who called Trump’s own move to shut the border to Chinese travelers racist,” according to the network.
Plus, Trump reportedly wants an American at the helm of the WHO, given that America is (or was) its biggest donor.
“The #Trump administration wants the @WHO to be led by an American director-general and inspector general… The WHO’s 193 member states each get a vote… The agency, an arm of the UN, has never had an American at its helm… The U.S. has long been the group’s top funder…”🤔 https://t.co/YNWDZ9f0ky
— Mark Warner (@MAAWLAW) January 22, 2026
What remains to be seen is how the WHO will treat the United States now that the divorce is official.
Gostin said that while the WHO has been very “magnanimous” and generous with the U.S. since Trump’s divorce announcement last year, that’s probably going to change.
“In this divorce analogy, it would be like: She locks her door and [says], ‘You can’t come and get your clothes,'” he explained. “Except in this case, it’d be viral specimens and disease outbreak data.”
Oof again!
Gostin worries that the WHO locking the U.S. out could have severe repercussions.
“We will not have access to the WHO Influenza Surveillance Network, which is crucial for the development of vaccines, routine seasonal vaccines, but also future pandemic strains of influenza,” he noted.
“Same thing with measles surveillance. We’re not going to be able to stop infectious diseases from spreading before they come to our border. We might not be notified of outbreaks as quickly as we should,” he added.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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