The United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization became official Thursday, formalizing a fissure between the Trump administration and the Geneva-based global health agency that dates back to the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the date on which the WHO was informed that President Trump had decreed that the U.S. would terminate its membership in the organization, something he tried to do during his first term in office. According to a joint congressional resolution passed in 1948 to allow the United States to join the WHO, the country had to give a year’s notice before withdrawing. (The joint resolution also stipulated that the country had to pay outstanding bills before leaving, a condition that has not been met.)
