CDC seems to defy Trump executive order by participating in WHO vaccine conference

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) appeared to defy President Donald Trump’s executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO) after the U.S. agency said it would participate in a conference with the global organization.

The CDC confirmed this week that it will go ahead and partake in a biannual conference on the influenza vaccine led by the WHO.

‘CDC will be actively participating virtually at the WHO vaccine consultation meeting for the recommendation of viruses for 2025-26 Northern Hemisphere Vaccine this week,’ a CDC spokesperson told Fox News. 

The agency did not clarify if it received an exemption from Trump’s executive order, which required all officials to stop working with the WHO. 

Trump signed the executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO just hours after taking office last month. The president cited reasons such as WHO’s ‘mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic,’ the ‘failure to adopt urgently needed reforms,’ and ‘unfairly onerous payments’ forced on the U.S. 

Days after signing the order, Trump said during a Las Vegas rally that he was open to potentially rejoining the WHO if the global body were ‘to clean it up a bit.’

The WHO issued a statement shortly after Trump’s order, lamenting the president’s decision and expressing hope that the U.S. will rethink the move.

During Trump’s first term, in July 2020, he took steps to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO but his successor, former President Joe Biden, eventually reinstated the nation’s participation in the global health initiative. 

Fox News Digital’s Alex Schemmel contributed to this report.