China is poised to be the next big donor to the World Health Organization after Trump abruptly withdrew the US from the United Nations health agency on his first day in office, leaving a critical funding gap and leadership void.
Although the US has cut all ties with the WHO—and reportedly still owes the agency $260 million in 2024–2025 dues—US health secretary and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made an unexpected appearance at the WHA via a six-minute video.
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In the abrasive, pre-recorded speech, Kennedy described the WHO as "moribund" and "mired in bureaucratic bloat [and] entrenched paradigms."
"WHO's priorities have increasingly reflected the biases and interests of corporate medicine," Kennedy said, alluding to his anti-vaccine and germ-theory denialist views. He chastised the health organization for allegedly capitulating to China and working with the country to "promote the fiction that COVID originated in bats."
Kennedy ended the short speech by touting his Make America Healthy Again agenda. He also urged the WHO to undergo a radical overhaul similar to what the Trump administration is currently doing to the US government—presumably including dismantling and withholding funding from critical health agencies and programs. Last, he pitched other countries to join the US in abandoning the WHO.
"I would like to take this opportunity to invite my fellow health ministers around the world into a new era of cooperation.... we're ready to work with you," Kennedy said.