Washington — President Donald Trump says he has directed a halt to U.S. payments to the World Health Organization pending a review of its warnings about the coronavirus and China.

Trump says the outbreak could have been contained at its source and spared lives had the U.N. health agency done a better job investigating reports coming out of China.

The president says the world depends on the World Health Organization to work with countries to make sure accurate information about health threats are shared in a timely manner.

Trump claims the organization failed to carry out its “basic duty” and must be held accountable.

But Trump says the U.S. will continue to engage with the organization in pursuit of what he calls meaningful reforms.

President Trump: "Today I'm instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization."



Full video here: https://t.co/4ar96UGcFV pic.twitter.com/KRZPKRGvhj — CSPAN (@cspan) April 14, 2020

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