The Trump-Tedros tiff timetable

Politico

28-01-2025

Presented by The Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance
Driving the Day
TRUMP'S WHO GRIEVANCES — President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization is the latest in a five-year grudge against Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reports POLITICO's Carmen Paun.
Trump has long said that Tedros, the WHO's director-general, treated China better than the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic, Carmen reports. Trump has said Tedros covered up China's responsibility for the virus — a claim Tedros denies.
Why it matters: If Tedros can't heal this rift, the international health body could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in annual U.S. contributions. The U.S. pays about a quarter of the WHO's main budget, calculated at $130 million for this year. China's mandatory dues are $87.6 million.
'This is too important to be left to personal grudges,' Larry Gostin, a Georgetown University professor who directs a center that assists the WHO on legal matters, said. 'They're going to have to put aside their problems personally with one another and really get down to the business of strengthening WHO and also reforming it significantly.'
The White House didn't respond to a request for comment, but the WHO told POLITICO it is committed to continuing reforms to its operations.
A former U.S. health official granted anonymity to speak frankly said Tedros and Trump have some key similarities, noting that Tedros is strong-willed and demands loyalty.
The beef between Trump and Tedros kicked off a few months into the pandemic. Trump wrote in a letter to Tedros that the WHO leader parroted inaccurate claims from China about how the virus spread and used 'political gamesmanship' to attack the U.S. for the border closure.
Tedros, who became director-general in 2017, has called the accusations untrue and unacceptable, rejecting the allegation that he takes orders from China.
What's next: Over the past few years, Tedros has called on China to share more information on how the pandemic started, whether through an unintentional lab leak in Wuhan or natural transmission from a bat to a human. And the WHO also published a timeline of its actions.
But in recent days, Trump has floated that he would reverse his position to leave the WHO, albeit with some caveats.
We would have to clean it up a little bit,' he said during a Las Vegas rally Saturday.
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In Congress
KENNEDY BACKERS TARGET SENATORS — Supporters of HHS secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are increasing the grassroots pressure on senators ahead of his confirmation hearing Wednesday, POLITICO's Daniel Payne reports.
Calley Means, who Trump transition officials have considered for an administration post, said on X that seven senators should be called, including Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. Means is also targeting key Republicans such as Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
'This is the most important request I have ever made,' according to the post from Means, who co-founded a company that allows tax-advantaged health savings to be spent on exercise, nutrition and supplements by offering patients letters of medical necessity.
But the request comes as Democratically aligned groups ramp up their own pressure campaign to sink Kennedy's nomination.
The group Protect Our Care has run a million-dollar ad campaign targeting several Republican senators. Another group, 314 Action, which highlights the importance of scientific voices in policymaking, launched a $250,000 round of digital ads.
Both groups have called attention to Kennedy's prior anti-vaccine statements.
BUT ANTI-ABORTION GROUPS ARE HOLDING THEIR FIRE — Amid the heated campaigns on both sides over Kennedy, most anti-abortion groups are holding their fire, Daniel reports with POLITICO's Alice Miranda Ollstein.
While the group Americans Advancing Freedom, co-founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, has opposed Kennedy's confirmation, others are waiting to learn his position during his confirmation hearings this week. Kennedy has previously supported abortion rights, sparking lingering concerns from some groups.
'We just need some reassurance,' said Marjorie Dannenfelser, leader of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, during the March for Life last week. 'His answers to senators have basically been, 'My policies will be the Trump administration's policies.''
But others are happy with his answers so far. The group Students for Life America hopes their claim that abortion pills contaminate wastewater could resonate with him.
'Is he a 100 percent, dyed-in-the-wool pro-life activist? No, we all know that,' Kristan Hawkins, the group's president, said. 'But I feel confident enough in the position that I'm arguing about drinking water pollution — that's going to perk up his ears.'
RFK JR. OPEN TO TAKING AWAY DRUG PATENTS — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is open to a key progressive proposal to lower drug prices: seizing patents of high-priced pharmaceuticals, POLITICO's Sophie Cai and Adam Cancryn reports.
President Donald Trump's health secretary nominee indicated favorability with the proposal last week during a closed-door meeting with staffers on the Senate Finance Committee, according to three people familiar with the exchange granted anonymity to speak freely.
Kennedy is expected to go before the committee Wednesday for his confirmation hearing.
Democrats and former President Joe Biden have long supported seizing patents for high-cost drugs and licensing them to other manufacturers that could make and sell them for less.
Kennedy's spokesperson, Katie Miller, disputed the characterization of the conversation.
'This is once again another example of POLITICO carrying Democrats' water. After POLITICO was told this did not occur the way Democrats have described it, they're still seeking to publish it in an attempt to denigrate Bobby Kennedy and create a story where there is not one,' she said. 'The fact remains, this did not occur. This is a smear campaign against Donald J. Trump.'
Republicans have long blasted the policy, saying it would kill American innovation.
Public Health
FALLING HEALTH AGENCY TRUST — Less than half of the public trusts Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who will face confirmation hearings this week to lead HHS, to make the right recommendations on health issues, according to a new KFF poll.
The survey, by the nonprofit health policy research arm, asked a nationally representative sample of more than 1,300 adults about their trust in public health agencies. KFF had previously recorded a decline in trust during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Overall, public trust in key health agencies, including the CDC, the NIH and the FDA, has declined since June 2023:
— Just over half the public, 53 percent, trust the FDA to make the right recommendations on health issues, down from 65 percent.
— The share of people who trust state and local health officials fell from 64 percent to 54 percent.
— Trust in the CDC dipped only slightly — from 66 percent to 61 percent.
Why it matters: Trust in public health agencies is sure to be discussed in Kennedy's confirmation hearings, which kick off Wednesday with the Senate Finance Committee. Kennedy has pledged to clear out HHS departments, accusing some bureaucrats of being influenced by pharmaceutical and food industry giants and resisting reform.
Some public health experts, however, have worried that Kennedy's rhetoric on vaccines, including repeating false claims, will further erode trust in public health agencies.
Other findings: The KFF survey also found that the share of parents who say they keep their children up to date on childhood vaccines dropped 8 percentage points to 82 percent. One in 6 adults now say they delay or skip shots for their children.
WHAT WE'RE READING
STAT News reports on the NIH being allowed to continue its clinical research but not report the results to the public.
POLITICO reports that top career staff at USAID have been placed on paid leave.
The Associated Press reports that state lawmakers want more vaccine exemptions despite a decline in child vaccinations.