But it's the words and actions off President Trump still dominating headlines.

He's being heavily criticized for halting funding for the World Health Organization.

Here's how it started today I'm instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization's role and severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the Corona virus.

Everybody knows what's going on there.

While world leaders, diplomats, doctors have criticized the announcement, this is what the World Health Organization itself had to say earlier.

This is a time for all of us to be united in our common struggle against a common threat, a dangerous enemy when were divided, the virus exploits the cracks between us.

We're committed to serving the world, is people and to accountability for the resources with which were interested.

And this is the reaction from the editor of The Lancet medical journal.

Well, the World Health Health Organization's primary role is to defend the health of the world's population on a crime against humanity.

is a systematic attempt to hurt the health on Dwell.

Being off a population.

President Trump has clearly committed that crime well, as well as accusing the WH over cover up.

President Trump said it failed to adequately assess the outbreak when it first emerged in the city of Wuhan on accused it of trusting China too much.

The W.

H.

O willingly took China's assurances to face value, and they took it just at face value and defended the actions of the Chinese government, even praising China for its so called transparency.

I don't think so.

Well, let's hear China's reaction to that.

I think the current global pandemic is grave.

This is a critical moment.

Three U.

S.

Decision will weaken The wh ose ability to handle the pandemic on will undermine the international cooperation against Cove in 19.

All nations, including the United States, will suffer from the impact of the decision.

And Carrie Allen has been monitoring Chinese social media for us.

China and the U.

S.

Had a very difficult relationship going back to early January when we were first hearing about this virus and it was very much the case that, you know, we were hearing Donald Trump calling this the Chinese fires, that Chinese media, wanting to give the impression that the U.

S.

Was not cooperating, it was pointing the finger.

And so now that the U.

S.

Is suspended funding for the World Health Organization, this this really increases this line in China on people very angry about this, they're seeing the U.

S.

Is not being cooperative very much.

Donald Trump, distancing himself from everything of wanting to point blame rather than helping other countries is there Now.

I'm seeing a lot of lies on social media platforms like seeing away both with people saying that he clearly doesn't care about people's feelings and that he's, you know, there's a lot of anger towards him and a lot of concern for the U.

S.

People on a bit of context here, the U.

S has the highest number of cases and deaths worldwide, and there's been criticism off the federal government's handling off the crisis.

So this is also political.

Ah, blame game ahead off this year's U.

S.

Presidential election.

Well, let's bring in Anthony's circa who's in Washington?

Hi, good to see.

So it's always slightly uncomfortable talking about this through a political lens, isn't it?

We had so many deaths there in the U.

S.

But this is an election issue.

It ISS, and that's simply the reality here.

It's politicians who were handling this crisis, and so is, by nature going to be a political debate.

What it comes down to it.

And as you mentioned, Donald Trump has been getting a lot of criticism for his handling of the U.

S response to this virus, downplaying its severity early on whether he did enough in February to prepare various hospitals and healthcare systems to deal with the patients.

And so now you've seen him attempt to ship some of this blame, most recently to the W H O.

But he's also talked about China about governors in the states not doing enough for Democrats in Congress not coming up with a good enough legislative solution.

So that's the reality.

But if you look back, Donald Trump himself, at one point was praising China's response for saying that they were being transparent.

So the same thing he's accusing the w h O of right now, he actually engaged in similar type of language earlier on this year, Andi viewers may remember Anthony that Donald Trump wanted to reopen the US by Easter.

That deadline clearly has Bean on gone.

Is there a timeline now?

Well, actually, what we're talking about right now is a May 1st deadline.

That's what Donald Trump appears to want.

That's what he's telling his administration officials to try to come up with.

But the reality is, is going to be very difficult.

Teoh Open and the whole nation on May 1st.

The conditions in various states are very different, and the bottom line is that state governors air the one to close things down.

They're the ones who are going to have to decide when to open things up again.

So that's why you're seeing various associations of states like California, Oregon and Washington on the West Coast, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts and others on the East Coast trying to figure out the best way to do it.

And they're looking at a step by step process where they can control the spread of the virus so they don't get some sort of a renewed peak in the Spread and Mawr death s'more hospitalizations when they start to ease back on this restriction.

But I think all the politicians are looking at November looking at the election, and they realized that they want the economy to try to rebound at some point soon.

Fascinating.

The power balance is going on there.

Anthony Zuiker.

Thank you very much for that, right?

Let's successor the substance now.

Donald Trump's criticism off the W H O.

How valid is it?

Well, I'm gonna get some help here.

Thankfully from a familiar face there is Ros Atkins is being off outside source of the last few weeks.

I'll be joining us from his home to look into this site off the story.

A good see again rods.

They could see Lewis.

Thanks very much.

Just my family and I are gonna be staying at home for a while.

So it's good to be back on outside source if no in the newsroom quite yet.

And let's have a detailed look at the W, H.

O and Donald Trump's criticism off it, starting with the World Health Organization itself.

It's U N agency.

It's based in Geneva, and it has an annual budget of over 2.5 $1,000,000,000.

Now that comes in part from member countries and in part from philanthropic donations.

America's the largest donor.

It pledges $400 million annually, though I should say it's in arrears on its contributions.

The second largest contributor?

Well, that's the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

And there's now a sharp divide between these top two donors.

We have Donald Trump saying US money is suspended because the W.

H.

O has worsened the outbreak with mismanagement.

Andi has covered for Chinese mistakes.

And then we have Bill Gates.

Well, he's been tweeting this, arguing that Mr Trump's move is dangerous on adding that if the wh ose work in stopped, no other organization can replace it now.

Clearly, the two men don't agree here, but their analyses don't necessarily cancel each other out.

As you might imagine, he is why It's certainly true that some of the W.

H.

O statements have raised a few eyebrows.

For example, in January it said there was no evidence that Covert 19 could be transmitted from human to human, but it was already happening.

Also in late January declared a public health emergency but said severe travel restrictions were not necessary.

Countries then introduced them all the same.

It also said there was no need for all of us toe wear, face masks and then weeks later said it was reviewing that advice.

We could also say it's true that the W.

H.

O has been effusive in its praise for China's response.

And there's been no equivalent severity in its criticism of China's failure to speak publicly when it first knew of the virus, or of China's intimidation of doctors who did speak out that critics say the W.

H O has been too soft on China for political reasons.

The W H O says that it has to be diplomatic to get China to cooperate.

It is also worth pointing out.

The W H O advises member states.

It can't instruct them.

The most crucial decisions taken during this crisis haven't been taken by the W H O, but by individual countries such as China And, of course, the U.

S.

There are a couple of additional issues here.

The first is America's place on the international stage.

This is a tweet.

We should take no toll from the former U.

S.

Ambassador to the U.

N Samantha Power she served under President Obama.

Here she is imagining President Putin thinking of Russia's efforts to help Donald Trump win the 2016 election and seeing this w h o decision.

She suggests this latest decision is a destruction of US credibility beyond Mr Putin's wildest dreams.

But actually this decision sits comfortably within Donald Trump's foreign policy.

He's taken the US out of the Paris climate agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, a major free trade deal with Pacific nations and its military commitments in northern Syria.

The list is a long one, and we know he's suspicious of super national bodies like the W.

H O.

Any suspicious of how much money that America pays in his eyes to sort out other people's problems.

So this W H O decision is entirely in line with that thinking.

So if we combine all of that with those political calculations ahead of the U.

S election that Lewis you were discussing with Anthony circa, we start to get towards a better understanding off this announcement from the president.

Thanks so much for that role is important to dig into the nuance there.

Fascinating stuff.

Thanks very much.