The U.S. will fulfill its $99 million financial obligation to the World Health Organization before formally exiting the agency next July, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday, reports Fox News.
"We will work with Congress with respect to the appropriated funds," Pompeo told reporters. "We'll get it right."
"But the president has made very clear we are not going to underwrite an organization that has historically been incompetent and not performed its fundamental function," Pompeo added.
The U.S. formally submitted its notice of withdrawal to the UN Secretary-General on Tuesday.
The spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres said he had received the notice and "is in the process of verifying with the World Health Organization whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met." Those conditions "include giving a one-year notice and fully meeting the payment of assessed financial obligations.”
President Donald Trump in mid-April said he was halting funding to the organization after he said it "failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms."
He also accused WHO of aiding China in allegedly covering up the origins of the coronavirus and allowing its spread.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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