On Jan. 22, 2026, The U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), one year after President Donald Trump announced America was ending its 78-year-old commitment, federal officials said Thursday. But it’s hardly a clean break.

The U.S. owes more than $130 million to the global health agency, according to WHO. And Trump administration officials acknowledge that they haven’t finished working out some issues, such as lost access to data from other countries that could give America an early warning of a new pandemic.

The withdrawal will hurt the global response to new outbreaks and will hobble the ability of U.S. scientists and pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines and medicines against new threats, said Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University. Experts say the U.S. exit could cripple numerous global health initiatives, including the effort to eradicate polio, maternal and child health programs, and research to identify new viral threats.

The U.S. has ceased official participation in WHO-sponsored committees, leadership bodies, governance structures and technical working groups. That would seem to include the WHO group that assesses what flu strains are circulating and makes critical decisions about updating flu shots. It also signals the U.S. is no longer participating in global flu information-sharing that guides vaccine decisions.

Gostin, an expert on international public health treaties and collaborations, said it’s unlikely the U.S. will reach agreements with more than a couple dozen countries.

Many emerging viruses are first spotted in China, but “is China going to sign a contract with the United States?” Gostin said. “Are countries in Africa going to do it? Are the countries Trump has slapped with a huge tariff going to send us their data? The claim is almost laughable.” Gostin also believes Trump overstepped his authority in pulling out of WHO. The U.S. joined the organization through an act of Congress and it is supposed to take an act of Congress to withdraw, he argued.