Argentina to withdraw from WHO after Trump exit, citing 'deep differences'

Argentina will pull out of the World Health Organization (WHO), a presidential spokesperson said on Wednesday, following President Donald Trump's executive order last month to pull the United States out of the global health group.

Trump, who Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei considers a close ally, moved to exit the organization on his first day in office on January 20.

Milei ordered Argentina's withdrawal because of "deep differences" regarding the WHO's management of health issues, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni said, citing Argentina's months-long lockdown under the previous leftist government.

Adorni also cited a "a lack of independence from the political influence of other states."

Trump similarly claimed the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises, and that it required "unfairly onerous" payments from the United States, its biggest funder.

(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Christina Fincher)