Last Updated Apr 23rd, 2020 at 3:52 pm

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the United States might never resume funding the World Health Organization, further indicating a significant policy shift at the White House in response to the WHO's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pompeo told Fox News late Wednesday "it may be the case that the United States can never return to underwriting, having U.S. taxpayer dollars go to the WHO."

President Trump said earlier this month that the U.S. would cease its roughly $500 million annual funding of the WHO, which "failed to adequately obtain, vet, and share information in a timely and transparent fashion" regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. The disease "could have been contained at its source, with very little death" had the organization acted more decisively, the president said.

This week Pompeo indicated that the WHO may need to make significant changes if it hopes to see U.S. funding return.

"I think we need to take a real hard look at the WHO and what we do coming out of this. We reformed this back in 2007, so this isn't the first time we've had to deal with the shortcomings of this organization that sits inside the United Nations," Pompeo said. "We need a fix. We need a structural fix with the WHO."

🔦 The WHO currently has a biennial budget of nearly $5 billion.