Name: Trump Seeks to Halve U.S. Funding for World Health Organization as Coronavirus Rages
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Trump Seeks to Halve U.S. Funding for World Health Organization as Coronavirus Rages

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The Trump administration is eyeing steep cuts to global health funds in its 2021 budget proposal, slashing more than $3 billion in overall programs, including half of its annual funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is leading the fight against the deadly coronavirus outbreak.&nbsp;Lawmakers from the House and Senate appropriations committees pressed officials from the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at a briefing on Feb. 7 previewing the budget to explain why it made sense to scale back spending at a time when the world is facing the threat of a deadly virus in China that has spread in limited numbers to other countries around the world, according to congressional aides familiar with the matter.&nbsp;The cuts are part of a broader proposal by the Trump administration to cut more than 21 percent from the federal budget for foreign aid, proposing $44 billion for 2021 from the $55 billion Congress enacted in 2020.“The budget protects against infectious disease threats at home and abroad, by bolstering country capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks and to prevent epidemics from reaching our borders,” Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun told reporters at a briefing on Monday. “It also allows us to provide the necessary flexibility to respond to emerging global health threats, such as the novel coronavirus and Ebola.”“Our ability to successfully evacuate Americans was due to the incredible men and women of the State Department and the resources provided by this budget,” he said.The State Department spokesperson defended the administration’s response to global health, saying that State and USAID programs “are enhanced by other agencies’ pandemic preparedness and response-related efforts. Our programs build the capacity of countries to prevent, detect, and respond to emerging pandemic threats such as the coronavirus.”“The U.S. is a proud leader in global health assistance, but we do look to other donors to contribute more,” the spokesperson added. “The $290 million requested for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, advances these burden-sharing goals while continuing to advance U.S. leadership on a cost-effective, proven health intervention.”Anti-Chinese and anti-American conspiracy theories have followed the first death.China’s economy is bigger and weaker than during SARS, and ripple effects are already being felt across supply chains and in commodities markets.The race for the top job at an obscure U.N. agency tested great-power influence on the world stage—and Beijing coasted into a victory over Washington.Robbie Gramer is a diplomacy and national security reporter at Foreign Policy.&nbsp;Twitter:&nbsp;Colum Lynch is a senior staff writer at&nbsp;Foreign Policy.&nbsp;Twitter:&nbsp;Anti-Chinese and anti-American conspiracy theories have followed the first death.China’s economy is bigger and weaker than during SARS, and ripple effects are already being felt across supply chains and in commodities markets.The race for the top job at an obscure U.N. agency tested great-power influence on the world stage—and Beijing coasted into a victory over Washington.Latest1234Latest AnalysisAccording to IR textbooks, the United States, Russia, and China are on a collision course.Six months into Russia’s war, seven thinkers outline its impact on foreign policy.Misperception, sunk costs, escalation, and internationalization all make conflicts last longer than planned.Russian diplomats were once viewed with begrudging respect in the West. 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The Trump administration is eyeing steep cuts to global health funds in its 2021 budget proposal, slashing more than $3 billion in overall programs, including half of its annual funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is leading the fight against the deadly coronavirus outbreak.&nbsp;Lawmakers from the House and Senate appropriations committees pressed officials from the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at a briefing on Feb. 7 previewing the budget to explain why it made sense to scale back spending at a time when the world is facing the...

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Robbie Gramer

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Trump Seeks to Halve U.S. Funding for World Health Organization as Coronavirus Rages

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