No immediate reaction to Trump's letter: WHO spokesperson

Geneva: A spokeswoman for the World Health Organization said the UN health agency doesn’t have an immediate reaction to a letter from US President Donald Trump that listed his complaints against it, including that it had shown “an alarming lack of independence” from China in its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib noted that she had seen the letter. “I don’t have any reaction, we have been busy trying to finalize our agenda for the World Health Assembly,” she said, referring to the health agency’s annual meeting, which has been shortened this year because of the COVID-19 outbreak and was set to end later Tuesday.

“I am sure in the course of the day we will have more clarity and reaction to this letter,” she told reporters at a regular UN briefing in Geneva.

Trump posted a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, dated Monday, on his Twitter page overnight.

Among other things, Trump pointed to his decision to suspend US contributions to the WHO pending a review of its actions in response to the outbreak.

He faulted its “repeated missteps” in the response to the pandemic, saying they have proven “very costly for the world”.