Tommy ChristopherMay 9th, 2026, 9:00 am

A reporter straight-up asked President Donald Trump if he would “reconsider” membership in the World Health Organization (WHO) amid widespread concern over a new Hantavirus outbreak.

The hantavirus exploded into the mediasphere this week over an outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius that killed three and reportedly involved a rare person-to-person transmission of the virus.

But health officials have assured the public that this outbreak does not have the potential to result in a Covid-like pandemic.

The president took questions from reporters on the South Lawn of the White House as he departed for Sterling, Virginia on Friday, and got several questions about the outbreak.

One reporter asked if he would reconsider his withdrawal from WHO, which was among his first acts upon retaking the White House:

REPORTER: Do you have an update on the hantavirus? The hantavirus?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have it. We have very good people looking at it. It seems to be okay. They know the virus very well. They’ve worked with it for a long time. They know it very well, not easy to pass on. So we hope that’s true.

…

REPORTER: On the hantavirus–. Will you reconsider leaving the World Health Organization because of the outbreak of hantavirus?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, we seem to have things under very good control. They know that virus very well. It’s been around a long time.

Not easily transferable, unlike COVID. But we’ll see. We’re studying it very closely. We have very good people studying it very closely.

President Trump signed an executive order on January 20, 2025 entitled “WITHDRAWING THE UNITED STATES FROM THE WORLD
HEALTH ORGANIZATION” and the withdrawal became official on January 22, 2026. At the time, the United States was by far the greatest source of funding for the organization.

Watch above via the White House Press Pool.

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