Leaked Memo Shows Officials Warned Trump Against Defunding WHO

[babylonsister]

Sunday, April 19, 2020
Leaked Memo Shows Officials Warned Trump Against Defunding WHO
Yeganeh Torbati
April 17 | 2020


An internal memorandum written by U.S. officials and addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warns that cutting funding to the World Health Organization, as President Donald Trump said he would do Tuesday, would erode America's global standing, threaten U.S. lives and hobble global efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The memo, which was prepared before Trump's Rose Garden announcement, was written by officials within the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and includes a detailed list of how U.S. funding to the WHO helps countries in the Middle East control the pandemic.

A draft version of the memo, which was labeled “Sensitive But Unclassified" and was titled “Information Memo for the Secretary," was seen by ProPublica.

It's unclear if the memo has been sent to Pompeo, and the draft version reviewed by ProPublica was still unfinished. The State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Trump administration has worked closely with the WHO on pandemic response, especially in places where the United States has a limited presence. One U.S. official with knowledge of the State Department memo said it was likely written so that Pompeo could justify waiving parts of Trump's order, allowing U.S. funding to the WHO to continue. The emphasis on how the halt in funding could bolster China was likely meant to appeal to anti-China hawks in the administration, this person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

more...

https://www.nationalmemo.com/leaked-memo-shows-officials-warned-trump-against-defunding-who

[JI7]

1. Why would he care about controlling the pandemic in the middle east

his first thought was it would mean more brown people killed which makes him more likely to support defunding.