As our country becomes the new epicenter for the world pandemic, plenty of actions have further delayed responses across the country. Even as we, Americans, take pride in being the richest, most well-developed country, our response to COVID-19 outbreaks was questionable. With the US closing in on nearly one million confirmed coronavirus cases — as of April 26th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 957,875 confirmed cases —  some states are lifting health measures as citizens are protesting stay at home orders being too strict, despite our confirmed cases continuing to rise every day.

Looking at our President, Donald Trump, many decisions are made on a regular basis to further combat the health crisis. However, some of these choices are detrimental considering the situation at hand. Many individuals know Trump as resilient against fighting “fake news” throughout his presidency, calling out news outlets or displaying disagreement with professionals. Today, his tendency to shift blame from his slow response to implement health measures regarding the COVID-19 pandemic is more prominent as the US continues facing hard-hit outbreaks across the country. 

As Trump continues facing criticism, he has recently cut funds from the World Health Organization, taking away 14.67 percent of funds from the organization. Reasoning behind this decision was displayed by Trump as the WHO’s responsibility behind “severely mismanaging and covering up” the spread of COVID-19, as stated by y Michael D. Shear, a White House correspondent in the Washington bureau, and Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter specializing in plagues and pestilences, reported for the New York Times. Following this, President Trump repeatedly shifted blame onto the WHO, criticizing the organization because “They could have called it months earlier,”  — despite there being clear and prominent warnings regarding coronavirus outbreaks from Asian and European countries prior to America’s first big outbreaks. 

Likewise, Trump’s decision to halt funding toward the WHO is as obscene as his statements about injecting disinfectants as a cure for COVID-19.  The World Health Organization is an essential global partner for the US regarding health assistance. The institution works toward developing clinical trials, research and development of vaccines and implementing as well as providing regulations and protection amongst countries. For our president to halt funding and criticize the organization as the US struggles with flattening curves, supplying materials and overloaded hospitals is beyond me.

 It is crystal clear Trump wants to be a leader as he declared our country “King of Ventilators” yet there is still a shortage of COVID-19 tests to go around, resulting in more unknown cases floating around populations — further snowballing. In order to lead in stopping this global pandemic, a direction of isolation from other countries does not save American lives.