"It was sickening and it was violating," said Sara Ancich, 45, of Orange County after seeing the ad for the first time Sunday.
The video was taken down Monday, a spokesman for Facebook told CNN.
Ancich, a sixth-grade English and history teacher, says she became aware of the ad April 10 when her brother-in-law texted her about it.
The ad opens with the photo of the family, solemn music underneath and text that reads: "Youngest son from a family of 5 is the sole survivor from the deadly pandemic after wearing a CDC approved respirator."
The image is a professionally shot picture of her family from eight years ago that the photographer, Rich Lander, posted on his website, Ancich told CNN. The image has since been removed by the photographer.
The ad then claims the family balked at government warnings and attended a 176-person event and that "Justin," the youngest son, was the only member of the family to wear a mask. Behind that text, the ad ran video of the British royal family inside Westminster Abbey. The text over the unidentified, smiling, boy, says that he "narrowly escaped death."
Ancich's youngest son, now 16, is named Ryan.
"The boy that supposedly portrayed our youngest son, we don't know who that boy is," Ancich said.
The video featuring the Ancich family is one of several versions that have been investigated by other media outlets with varying images and video clips but the same "sole survivor" script and FilterMax branding.
The ad says FilterMax "deploys dual filtration valve technology with a 5-layer protection filter, which effectively blocks out 99.9% of bacteria, dust, smog, and pollen from entering your lungs." The ad also claims they are FDA-approved -- a claim CNN could find no evidence for on the list of approved respirators on the FDA website.
Numerous companies use the name "FilterMax." CNN was not able to definitively ascertain which company is behind the video but reached out to several online stores that were, at one point, selling the masks under that name. None immediately replied to requests for comment.
"We apologize to the family impacted by the video. We've removed it and have taken steps to keep people from sharing it," a Facebook spokesman told CNN.
"We also continue working to stop people from exploiting this crisis for financial gain by banning the sale of masks and other products that are linked to predatory behavior."
Facebook also clarified the FilterMax ad did not run as paid distribution, which the platform actively shows to users, but "appeared organically."
SEOUL, South Korea — President Moon Jae-in’s governing party in South Korea won a landslide in parliamentary elections on Wednesday, as he leveraged his surging popularity over his country’s largely successful battle against the coronavirus to increase his political sway.
With more than 99 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Moon’s left-leaning Democratic Party had won 163 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, according to the National Election Commission on Thursday morning. A satellite party the Democrats created for Wednesday’s elections won 17 seats. Together, the two groups took three-fifths of all seats, giving Mr. Moon the largest majority of seats in three decades.
The main conservative opposition United Future Party and its own satellite Future Korea Party suffered a crushing defeat, winning 103 seats between them. The remaining seats were taken by independents and candidates from smaller parties.
Pandemic or not, South Koreans proved eager to vote in the election, widely seen as a midterm referendum on Mr. Moon, elected to a five-year term in 2017. The voter turnout was 66.2 percent, the highest for a parliamentary election in 28 years.
Wednesday’s election marked the first time in 16 years that left-leaning parties have secured a parliamentary majority, as South Koreans expressed their support for Mr. Moon’s government, which has won plaudits for bringing the epidemic under control.
In South Korea, elections typically have been decided by regional loyalties, ideological differences over North Korea or issues like the economy and corruption.
But this time, “how the government has responded to the coronavirus was the most decisive factor in the president’s approval ratings and in the parliamentary election,” said Park Si-young, head of WinG Korea, a Seoul-based political survey company.
The prospects for Mr. Moon’s party did not look good until less than two months ago. He and his party’s approval ratings had been slumping over a decaying job market, stalled diplomatic efforts with North Korea and scandals involving Mr. Moon’s closest allies. The coronavirus had initially appeared to work against Mr. Moon and his party, as they were criticized for underestimating the threat.
But their political fortune shifted once Mr. Moon’s government began testing large numbers of people in February to screen out patients for isolation and treatment. South Korea, once home to the world’s second-largest outbreak, with as many as 813 new cases a day, has reported fewer than 40 new patients a day in the past week.
As President Trump and other foreign leaders called Mr. Moon, asking South Korea for supplies of test kits or advice in handling the outbreak, his popularity rebounded at just the right time.
During the campaign, Mr. Moon’s conservative rivals accused him of coddling the nuclear-armed North Korea and undermining the alliance with Washington by taking Seoul too close to Beijing, criticisms which Mr. Moon strongly rejected.
With their victories on Wednesday, South Korea’s liberals achieved more political clout than they have ever held.
Their ascent began when former President Park Geun-hye, a conservative, was impeached and then ousted on corruption charges in 2017. Mr. Moon won the presidency in an election that same year, becoming the first left-leaning president in nearly a decade. In 2018, his party won all but three of the 17 contests for big-city mayors and provincial governors.
“By taking over the Parliament as well, the progressives complete replacing the conservatives as the mainstream political force in South Korea,” said Park Sung-min, head of Min Consulting, a political polling company in Seoul.
Anti-North Korea conservatives had dominated politics, the news media and other elite groups in South Korea during the decades following the 1950-53 Korean War. It was not until 1998 that South Korea elected its first left-leaning president, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kim Dae-jung. Mr. Kim was succeeded by another liberal, Roh Moo-hyun, president from 2003 to 2008.
But neither Mr. Kim nor Mr. Roh could obtain the type of parliamentary majority that Mr. Moon just earned.
Older South Koreans have tended to vote conservative, criticizing anything less than unequivocal support for the alliance with Washington as “pro-North Korean.”
But postwar generations of South Koreans have more readily seen a need for diplomacy with North Korea and have voiced skepticism over the power of chaebol — family-controlled business conglomerates like Samsung — that have dominated the economy with the help of close, and often corrupt, political ties.
Surprise winners included Thae Yong-ho, the first defector from North Korea to win an election in the South. Mr. Thae, a former North Korean diplomat in London who defected in 2016, won the contest in a Seoul district as a candidate for the conservative United Future.
The polling in South Korea was one of the first national elections taking place amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the country took significant safety precautions to try to ensure that infections did not spread.
All voters were required to wear masks and line up at three-foot intervals. Officials screened out those with high temperatures so that they could vote separately. Voters were also required to rub their hands with sanitizer and put on disposable plastic gloves handed out by officials before entering voting booths.
More than 13,000 South Koreans who were in a mandatory two-week quarantine but still wanted to cast ballots were escorted by officials to vote after the polling stations closed to the general public at 6 p.m. Hospitalized patients of the virus were given the choice to vote by mail. Hundreds of patients with mild symptoms were allowed to vote in advance.
The outbreak also changed the campaign scenes: Candidates replaced handshakes with elbow and fist bumps. Instead of loud singing and dancing, their volunteer helpers handed out name cards and fliers.
The election in South Korea “tells other world leaders that how they respond to their own crisis could make or break their political fortunes,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior adviser on Northeast Asia and nuclear policy at the International Crisis Group. “Because the pandemic is at the top of everyone’s mind.”
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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., accused President Trump Tuesday night of shifting blame for the extent of the coronavirus pandemic onto China and the World Health Organization instead of accepting responsibility.
"The reason that we're in the crisis that we are today is not because of anything that China did, is not because of anything the WHO did. It's because of what this president did," Murphy told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360". "It's because he didn't take this virus seriously. We weren't going to be able to keep every case out of the United States, but we didn't have to have tens of thousands of people dying."
Murphy spoke hours after Trump announced the administration would halt funding to the WHO while it investigates the global health agency's reponse to the pandemic.
The president claimed the outbreak could have been contained at its source and that lives could have been saved had the WHO done a better job investigating the early reports coming out of China.
“The WHO failed in its basic duty and must be held accountable,” Trump said.
Murphy said on Tuesday that "the president is engaging in sort of middle school-grade deflection, trying to blame the WHO for something that he was responsible for." The senator also defended the WHO, saying they invested in testing in the "early days of this virus."
"Had we been working with the WHO early on," Murphy said, "we might be in a very different position here."
A woman wearing a protective face mask, who said she did not mind being photographed, walks past a temporarily closed Karstadt department store during the coronavirus crisis on April 15, 2020 in Berlin, Germany.
Sean Gallup
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday laid out Germany's plan to gradually resume public life while maintaining social distancing, a month after Europe's largest economy effectively shut down in an effort to slow the coronavirus outbreak.
Some small businesses will reopen on April 20 while schools will begin to gradually reopen on May 4. Most businesses have been closed in Germany since a March 16 government order limited economic life to grocery stories, pharmacies, banks, gas stations and other essential services while people were urged to remain at home.
The German government extended social distancing measures until May 3, which require people to maintain a distance of 1.5 meters (5 feet) and limit public gatherings to just two people with the exception of family members. Large gatherings will remain banned at least until Aug. 31, and religious gatherings remain prohibited until further notice. Germans are also being encouraged to wear masks in public and avoid travel.
Merkel said the country's strict social distancing measures had prevented the country's health-care system from becoming overwhelmed, but warned this was a "fragile, partial success."
"We don't have a lot of leeway, we have to remain focused and continue," Merkel said at a news conference Wednesday. "Our consultations therefore decided that we cannot get ahead of ourselves. We have to understand that we must live the virus so long as there's no medicine or vaccine."
Businesses that don't exceed 800 square meters are allowed to reopen, as well as car dealerships, bike shops and bookstores regardless of their size. Hair salons can reopen on May 4 but workers must wear personal protective equipment. All shops that reopen must adhere to regulations on hygiene and must prevent lines from forming.
Restaurants will remain closed for dine-in service, but can offer delivery and takeout. Bars, clubs, theaters and concert venues will remain closed. Companies are encouraged to have employees continue working from home whenever possible.
The German government, in a document outlining its plan, said the goal is to take small steps to restart public life, give people more freedom of movement and restore value-added chains, while at the same time maintaining protective measures to prevent new chains of infection.
"We all have to remain conscious that the epidemic has not been overcome by slowing the chain of infection -- it continues," the government said in its outline. "Therefore, we cannot return to the life we were accustomed to before the epidemic. Instead, we must learn how we can live with the epidemic for a long time to come."
More than 133,000 people have tested positive for the virus in Germany, according to Johns Hopkins University, behind only the U.S., Spain and Italy in terms of total reported infections nationwide. Germany, however, has managed to keep the death toll from the virus lower than other hard-hit countries. At least 3,592 people have died of the virus in Germany.
Merkel went into self-quarantine in March at her home after having contact with a doctor who tested positive for the virus. She ultimately tested negative for the virus and returned to work in her office earlier this month.
President Trump at the daily coronavirus briefing on Tuesday, when he declared his intent to halt funding to the World Health Organization, and Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO.
Alex Brandon/AP/ Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
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Alex Brandon/AP/ Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
On Tuesday, President Trump said he's suspending U.S. funding for the World Health Organization. He said the agency has "mismanaged" the pandemic, has been slow to respond to the crisis and is "China-centric."
We looked at the public record to see what Trump and WHO had to say over the past 15 weeks about the coronavirus pandemic. Here's a timeline highlighting key quotes.
Jan. 5
WHO reported a "pneumonia of unknown cause" in Wuhan, China.
The health organization advised against restrictions to China: "WHO advises against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China based on the current information available on this event."
Jan. 9
WHO released a statement announcing the source of the disease: "Chinese authorities have made a preliminary determination of a novel (or new) coronavirus, identified in a hospitalized person with pneumonia in Wuhan."
It added: "In the coming weeks, more comprehensive information is required to understand the current status and epidemiology of the outbreak, and the clinical picture."
A security guard stands outside the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market where the novel coronavirus was detected in Wuhan.
Hector Retamal /AFP via Getty Images
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Hector Retamal /AFP via Getty Images
Jan. 22
Asked by CNBC whether there were any concerns about the virus spreading to the U.S., Trump responded: "We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It's — going to be just fine."
Jan. 23
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement that it is too early to declare the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. "Make no mistake. This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one."
The Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, China, January 22.
Stringer/Getty Images
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Stringer/Getty Images
Jan. 24
In a tweet, Trump praised China for its efforts to prevent the spread of the virus. "China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!"
Jan. 29
Mike Ryan, head of the WHO health emergencies program, said "the whole world needs to be on alert now. The whole world needs to take action and be ready for any cases that come from the epicenter or other epicenter that becomes established."
Jan. 30
At a campaign rally in Iowa, Trump talked about the U.S. partnership with China to control the disease. "We only have five people, hopefully, everything's going to be great. They have somewhat of a problem, but hopefully, it's all going to be great. But we're working with China, just so you know, and other countries very, very closely. So it doesn't get out of hand."
Tedros announced that the outbreak has become a "public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of novel coronavirus."
Feb. 2
In an interview with Sean Hannity, Trump said, "We pretty much shut it down coming in from China." His executive order banning anyone who has been in China in the previous 14 days – excluding U.S. residents and family members or spouses of U.S. residents or citizens – goes into effect.
Feb. 4
In a WHO briefing, Tedros urged that there be no travel bans. "We reiterate our call to all countries not to impose restrictions that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade. Such restrictions can have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit ... Where such measures have been implemented, we urge that they are short in duration, proportionate to the public health risks and are reconsidered regularly as the situation evolves."
Feb. 10
At a campaign rally in Manchester, N.H., Trump said: "Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. I hope that's true. But we're doing great in our country. China, I spoke with President Xi, and they're working very, very hard. And I think it's going to all work out fine."
Feb. 11
At a WHO briefing Tedros urged world leaders to give priority to containing the virus: "To be honest, a virus is more powerful in creating political, economic and social upheaval than any terrorist attack. A virus can have more powerful consequences than any terrorist action and that's true. If the world doesn't want to wake up and consider this enemy virus as Public Enemy number 1, I don't think we will learn our lessons."
Feb. 13
In an interview with Geraldo Rivera, Trump characterized the threat of the virus in the U.S. by saying: "In our country, we only have, basically, 12 cases and most of those people are recovering and some cases fully recovered. So it's actually less."
Feb. 24
In a tweet, Trump wrote, "The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!"
Feb. 26
In a press conference, Trump said: "When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done."
Feb. 28
WHO raises the global risk to coronavirus from "high" to "very high."
March 5
In a WHO briefing Tedros praised China and the U.S. for taking "the right approach." He said: "After our visit to Beijing and seeing China's approach, and President Xi leading that, and also in the U.S., President Trump himself, and also for regular coordination, designating the vice president. These are the approaches we're saying are the right ones, and these are the approaches we're saying are going to mobilize the whole government."
In a Fox News town hall, Trump said,"It's going to all work out. Everybody has to be calm. It's all going to work out."
Customers line up to buy water and other supplies in Burbank, Calif., on March 6, reacting to fears that the novel coronavirus would spread and force people to stay indoors.
Robyn Beck /AFP via Getty Images
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Robyn Beck /AFP via Getty Images
March 10
In a meeting with Republican senators at the U.S. Capitol, Trump said, "This was unexpected ... And it hit the world. And we're prepared, and we're doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away."
March 11
Trump said in an Oval Office address: "The vast majority of Americans, the risk is very, very low."
Tedros said WHO has "made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."
A digital sign directs patients to the drive-through coronavirus test site at Stony Brook University. The photo was taken on March 28.
John Paraskevas/Newsday via Getty Images
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John Paraskevas/Newsday via Getty Images
March 16
"You cannot fight a fire blindfolded. And we cannot stop this pandemic if we don't know who is infected," Tedros said at a briefing in Geneva. He added, "We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test. Test every suspected case."
Trump issues orders to control the spread of the virus in the U.S. in a press briefing: "My administration is recommending that all Americans, including the young and healthy, work to engage in schooling from home when possible. Avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people. Avoid discretionary travel. And avoid eating and drinking at bars, restaurants and public food courts. If everyone makes this change or these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus. And we're going to have a big celebration all together. With several weeks of focused action, we can turn the corner and turn it quickly."
March 17
Trump told reporters: "This is a pandemic ... I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic."
Pat Herrick holds a photo of her mom, Elaine Herrick, 89, a resident of Life Care Center, who died of complications from COVID-19. The nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, was the location of one of the first coronavirus outbreaks in the U.S.
Jason Redmond /AFP via Getty Images
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Jason Redmond /AFP via Getty Images
March 21
Trump tweeted about potential coronavirus treatments: "HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents)....."
March 23
In a WHO briefing, Tedros said "using untested medicines without the right evidence could raise false hope and even do more harm than good."
He also said that the "pandemic is accelerating ... It took 67 days from the first reported case to reach the first 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000 cases and just four days for the third 100,000 cases."
March 24
Trump said: "Easter is a very special day for me. And I see it sort of in that timeline that I'm thinking about. And I say, wouldn't it be great to have all of the churches full?"
March 26
"We are at war with a virus that threatens to tear us apart," said Tedros to world leaders in a special virtual summit on the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 6
Mike Ryan, head of the WHO health emergencies program, said you can't lift a lockdown all at once. "You need to say, 'We will stop doing this element of the shutdown, and then we will wait, and we will look at the data. And if that works, we go to the next stage and the next stage.' So a careful calibrated step-wise exit from lockdown."
April 7
Trump criticized WHO for mishandling the pandemic. "The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China- centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?"
April 8
"Please don't politicize this virus," Tedros said in a briefing in Geneva after he was asked about Trump's remarksthe day before. He later urged political leaders to "please quarantine politicizing COVID."
April 14
"Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus," Trump said in a briefing at the White House.
April 15
"We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organization," said Tedros in a news conference.
Responding to the U.S. accusations, Mike Ryan of the WHO said "in the first weeks of January the WHO was very, very clear."
"We alerted the world on January the 5th," Ryan said. "Systems around the world, including the U.S., began to activate their incident management systems on January the 6th. And through the next number of weeks, we've produced multiple updates to countries, including briefing multiple governments, multiple scientists around the world, on the developing situation — and that is what it was, a developing situation."
In an interview with NPR that will air on April 16, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Craft stated: "[the World Health Organization] was not accurate, had it been accurate it would have slowed the virus and saved thousands of lives."
Jason Beaubien, Pien Huang, Ben de la Cruz, Isabella Gomez Sarmiento and Domenico Montanaro contributed to this report.
The World Health Organization is turning to other countries to help fill any gaps in financing its Covid-19 response work after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would withhold contributions.
"The United States of America has been a long-standing and generous friend to the WHO and we hope it will continue to be so," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference on Wednesday. "We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a hold in funding to the World Health Organization."
Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. will suspend funding to WHO while it reviews the agency's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the administration will conduct a "thorough" investigation that should last 60 to 90 days.
Trump criticized the international agency's response to the outbreak at a White House press conference, saying "one of the most dangerous and costly decisions from the WHO was its disastrous decision to oppose travel restrictions from China and other nations" that Trump imposed early on in the outbreak.
The WHO's funding runs in two-year budget cycles. For the 2018 and 2019 funding cycle, the U.S. paid a $237 million required assessment as well as an additional $656 million in voluntary contributions to the agency, averaging $446 million a year and representing about 14.67% of its total budget, according to spokesman Tarik Jasarevic.
It's unclear exactly what mechanism Trump intends to use to withhold WHO funding, much of which is appropriated by Congress. The president typically does not have the authority to unilaterally redirect congressional funding.
While details of the plan are still unavailable, CNBC's Eamon Javers reported Wednesday that the administration intends to rely on a novel interpretation of the law governing the president's ability to redirect congressionally mandated funds.
According to administration officials, they intend to argue that Congress funded the WHO under a broad umbrella of "global aid" funds, and as a result, they will claim that the president has the right to redirect the WHO funds to any "global aid" program in the same category as the WHO.
This is unlikely to be an effective argument for congressional appropriators, who closely guard the legislative branch's "power of the purse."
In a statement Wednesday, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump's decision "dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged."
"The president's halting of funding to the WHO as it leads the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic is senseless," she said. "We can only be successful in defeating this global pandemic through a coordinated international response with respect for science and data."
The American Nurses Association is also urging Trump to reconsider his decision.
"The decision to discontinue the United States funding for the World Health Organization at this time of the pandemic is misguided and will hinder global efforts to battle the coronavirus," ANA President Ernest Grant said in a statement. "International cooperation among governments and the scientific and health care communities is essential to halt the spread of the disease and share tools, strategies and solutions to mitigate its impact."
Tedros said Wednesday that the agency's mission is to work with all nationals "equally" without regard to their populations or economy. He said the agency's performance in handling the pandemic will be reviewed by member states to ensure "full transparency and accountability."
"For that matter, involving all responders, this is part of the usual process put in place by our member states," he said. "No doubt areas for improvement will be identified and there will be lessons for all of us to learn, but for now our focus, my focus, is on stoping this virus and saving lives."
Tedros, who has said he has received death threats and insults, said WHO is not only fighting the coronavirus, adding the agency is working to address "polio, measles, malaria, ebola, HIV, TB, malnutrition, cancer, diabetes, mental health and many other diseases."
"This is a time for all of us to be united in our common struggle against a common threat, a dangerous enemy," he said.
The coronavirus, which emerged in Wuhan, China over three months ago, has infected 2 million people worldwide and killed at least 128,886 as of Wednesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
WHO started sounding the alarm on the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, in mid-January, designating the now Covid-19 pandemic as a global health emergency on Jan. 30 when there were just 8,200 cases in 18 countries across the world.
The WHO's global emergency declaration on Jan. 30 was nearly a month before Trump tweeted that "The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA" and six weeks before he declared a national emergency on March 13.
The World Health Organization is turning to other countries to help fill any gaps in financing its Covid-19 response work after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would withhold contributions.
"The United States of America has been a long-standing and generous friend to the WHO and we hope it will continue to be so," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference on Wednesday. "We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a hold in funding to the World Health Organization."
Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. will suspend funding to WHO while it reviews the agency's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the administration will conduct a "thorough" investigation that should last 60 to 90 days.
Trump criticized the international agency's response to the outbreak at a White House press conference, saying "one of the most dangerous and costly decisions from the WHO was its disastrous decision to oppose travel restrictions from China and other nations" that Trump imposed early on in the outbreak.
In the fiscal year 2019, the U.S. provided about $237 million as well as an additional $656 million in voluntary contributions to the agency, according to a WHO spokesperson, representing about 14.67% of its total budget.
It's unclear exactly what mechanism Trump intends to use to withhold WHO funding, much of which is appropriated by Congress. The president typically does not have the authority to unilaterally redirect congressional funding.
While details of the plan are still unavailable, CNBC's Eamon Javers reported Wednesday that the administration intends to rely on a novel interpretation of the law governing the president's ability to redirect congressionally mandated funds.
According to administration officials, they intend to argue that Congress funded the WHO under a broad umbrella of "global aid" funds, and as a result, they will claim that the president has the right to redirect the WHO funds to any "global aid" program in the same category as the WHO.
This is unlikely to be an effective argument for congressional appropriators, who closely guard the legislative branch's "power of the purse."
In a statement Wednesday, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump's decision "dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged."
"The president's halting of funding to the WHO as it leads the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic is senseless," she said. "We can only be successful in defeating this global pandemic through a coordinated international response with respect for science and data."
The American Nurses Association is also urging Trump to reconsider his decision.
"The decision to discontinue the United States funding for the World Health Organization at this time of the pandemic is misguided and will hinder global efforts to battle the coronavirus," ANA President Ernest Grant said in a statement. "International cooperation among governments and the scientific and health care communities is essential to halt the spread of the disease and share tools, strategies and solutions to mitigate its impact."
Tedros said Wednesday that the agency's mission is to work with all nationals "equally" without regard to their populations or economy. He said the agency's performance in handling the pandemic will be reviewed by member states to ensure "full transparency and accountability."
"For that matter, involving all responders, this is part of the usual process put in place by our member states," he said. "No doubt areas for improvement will be identified and there will be lessons for all of us to learn, but for now our focus, my focus, is on stoping this virus and saving lives."
Tedros, who has said he has received death threats and insults, said WHO is not only fighting the coronavirus, adding the agency is working to address "polio, measles, malaria, ebola, HIV, TB, malnutrition, cancer, diabetes, mental health and many other diseases."
"This is a time for all of us to be united in our common struggle against a common threat, a dangerous enemy," he said.
The coronavirus, which emerged in Wuhan, China over three months ago, has infected 2 million people worldwide and killed at least 128,886 as of Wednesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
WHO started sounding the alarm on the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, in mid-January, designating the now Covid-19 pandemic as a global health emergency on Jan. 30 when there were just 8,200 cases in 18 countries across the world.
The WHO's global emergency declaration on Jan. 30 was nearly a month before Trump tweeted that "The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA" and six weeks before he declared a national emergency on March 13.
