President Donald Trump had a letter sent to the United Nations, officially withdrawing the country from the World Health Organization. Trump threatened to withdraw back in April but a U.N. spokesperson confirmed the formal withdrawal request in an email to reporters on Tuesday.
The move has left many legal scholars and analysts questioning whether the president has the authority to withdraw the country from the WHO. The American Medical Association came out against the withdrawal in a statement issued on Tuesday, which read, in part:
“The Trump administration’s official withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) puts the health of our country at grave risk. We join in strong opposition to this decision, which is a major setback to science, public health, and global coordination efforts needed to defeat COVID-19.”