Health and social policy

Executive Order 14155: Withdrawing the United States From the World Health Organization

President: Donald J. Trump

Directed the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization, pause future federal support and personnel, and stop negotiations on specified WHO pandemic instruments.

Status: In effect. Is Executive Order 14155 still in effect? Yes. The U.S. withdrawal direction remains operative: HHS and State reported its implementation on January 22, 2026. This label describes the domestic directive, not a finding that every international membership or financial question is settled. Agency announcement; later WHO resolution.

Three distinct WHO withdrawal records: the 2025 U.S. directive, January 2026 agency implementation reports, and WHO’s May 2026 conditional arrears decision
Direction, implementation reports and membership questions are separate records. Original source-based diagram using the signed order, HHS’s implementation report and WHA79.2. It is not a court ruling.

What does Executive Order 14155 do?

A one-year international notification process followed.

Later primary evidence reviewed September 24, 2026: WHO acknowledged the United States' withdrawal notification in January 2026 and said related questions would be considered by its governing bodies; this source does not settle the order's full legal effect. Official source. The cited steps do not establish every downstream effect.

Administration position: The criticisms of WHO in the order are the administration’s stated reasons. WHO disputes several of them; the verified action is the withdrawal direction and notification.

What agencies reported carrying out

HHS and State announced on January 22, 2026 that the United States had completed withdrawal. Their release reported that funding had stopped, personnel had been withdrawn, and former WHO activities were being redirected toward bilateral engagements. These are the agencies’ implementation claims, rather than proof inferred solely from the order’s signing. Dated joint-agency announcement.

HHS’s accompanying fact sheet specifically reported recall of personnel and contractors from Geneva and other WHO offices, suspension or discontinuation of engagements, and the end of official participation in WHO committees, governance bodies and technical groups. It does not identify a completed replacement for every WHO function or publish the strategy-review deliverable assigned to the pandemic-policy office. Implementation fact sheet.

Reading the operative provisions of Executive Order 14155

The text lays out several actions for the withdrawal period, not only a notice to the World Health Organization. It revokes EO 13987 and the 2021 presidential letter that had withdrawn the earlier U.S. withdrawal notice; directs the National Security Council to establish public-health and biosecurity coordination; and tells State and OMB to pause future U.S. support, recall or reassign personnel, and identify replacement partners. It also assigns a review of the 2024 U.S. Global Health Security Strategy and directs State to stop negotiating the WHO Pandemic Agreement and International Health Regulations amendments while withdrawal proceeds.

These provisions affect different actors and have different proof of completion. The order’s notice, WHO’s response, domestic funding decisions, personnel changes, and any replacement partnerships should not be collapsed into a single status claim. The order also preserves agency authority and appropriations limits. Its policy criticisms of WHO are attributed to the administration; the legal and operational consequences must be checked against the governing withdrawal notice and later official records. Read Executive Order 14155 in the Federal Register.

SignedJanuary 20, 2025
Notice periodOne year
Stated effective dateJanuary 22, 2026
Funding directionPause future transfers

Before and after

Before the order

President Biden had retracted the first Trump administration withdrawal notice in 2021 and restored US participation.

The United States participated in WHO governance, funding and technical cooperation.

After the order

The order reversed that policy, directed a withdrawal notification and halted specified support and negotiations.

WHO records a stated withdrawal date of January 22, 2026 while noting that related issues remained before its governing bodies.

WHO acknowledged the United States' withdrawal notification in January 2026 and said related questions would be considered by its governing bodies; this source does not settle the order's full legal effect.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Secretary of StateNotify the UN Secretary-General, other applicable depositaries and WHO leadership; stop the specified WHO negotiations. Join OMB on funding, personnel and replacement partners.Notification: immediately. Joint measures: with all practicable speed. Negotiations: while withdrawal proceeds. Sections 2(d), 3–4.
OMB DirectorWith State, pause future federal funds, support and resources; recall and reassign personnel or contractors; identify replacement partners.With all practicable speed; no fixed number of days. Section 2(d).
National Security AdvisorEstablish NSC directorates and coordinating mechanisms for public health and biosecurity as deemed necessary and appropriate.No numerical deadline. Section 2(c).
White House pandemic-preparedness policy DirectorReview, rescind and replace the 2024 U.S. Global Health Security Strategy.As soon as practicable. Section 2(e).

Signed sections 2–4. The full title of the fourth official is Director of the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy. The table separates immediate notification from the other timing standards.

What happened next

EO 14155 signed.

US notification identified a one-year withdrawal period.

The Federal Register published the order at 90 FR 8361–8362. Authenticated publication.

A later presidential memorandum revoked PPD-6 on U.S. Global Development Policy, citing inconsistency with EO 14155 and other orders. It revoked PPD-6, not EO 14155; it was published on July 31. Signed memorandum.

Stated effective date in the notification.

HHS and State announced completion of withdrawal and reported the funding and personnel changes. Announcement; implementation details.

WHO said the notification raised issues for its governing bodies.

WHA79.2 included the United States among countries whose voting privileges would be suspended at the opening of the 2027 Health Assembly if qualifying arrears persisted. This was conditional, not an immediate suspension. Adopted resolution.

WHA79.7 addressed Argentina’s withdrawal communication. It did not decide the United States’ case. Resolution text.

Later primary evidence reviewed: WHO acknowledged the United States' withdrawal notification in January 2026 and said related questions would be considered by its governing bodies; this source does not settle the order's full legal effect.