Trump Administration Rejects Amendments to International Health Regulations of United Nation

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on July 18, issued a Joint Statement of formal rejection by the United States of the 2024 International Heath Regulations Amendments by the World Health Organization or WHO.

The amended regulations would give the WHO the ability to order global lockdowns, travel restrictions, or any other measures it sees fit to respond to nebulous “potential public health risks.” These regulations are set to become binding if not rejected by July 19, 2025, regardless of the United States’ withdrawal from the WHO.

“The proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations open the door to the kind of narrative management, propaganda, and censorship that we saw during the COVID pandemic,” Secretary Kennedy said. “The United States can cooperate with other nations without jeopardizing our civil liberties, without undermining our Constitution, and without ceding away America’s treasured sovereignty.”

“Terminology throughout the amendments to the 2024 International Health Regulations is vague and broad, risking WHO-coordinated international responses that focus on political issues like solidarity, rather than rapid and effective actions,” Secretary Rubio said.

On June 1, 2024, the World Health Assembly, the highest decision-making body of the WHO, adopted a revised version of the International Health Regulations through a rushed process lacking sufficient debate and public input.

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In his Executive Order of January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump said, “The United States noticed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization in 2020 due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.

In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO.

President Joe Biden sent a Presidential Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations signed on January 20, 2021, that retracted the United States’ July 6, 2020, notification of withdrawal. That retraction was revoked by President Trump’s 2025 Executive Order.

In their Joint Statement Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Rubio put the WHO on notice.

“Our Agencies have been and will continue to be clear: we will put Americans first in all our actions and we will not tolerate international policies that infringe on Americans' speech, privacy, or personal liberties.”[VOA/VS]

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