Trump: WHO needs to 'get their priorities right'

President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his claims that the United States was going to investigate the World Health Organization.

"I think they have to get their priorities right," Trump said during a White House briefing.

"They criticized me very strongly when I said that we're going to shut down flights coming in from China," he said of the WHO.

At the White House on Tuesday, Trump first said the United States would "put a hold" on WHO funding, and then revised that to say, "We will look at ending funding."

He took aim particularly at its alleged criticism of the U.S. ban on travel to and from China.

Generally, the WHO has been careful not to criticize countries on their national polices, and it was not immediately clear what specific criticism Trump was alluding to.

Trump's remarks came as many governments, particularly in Europe, have started to brush aside, ignore and criticize WHO recommendations on issues of public policy, like whether travel restrictions are warranted or whether the public should wear masks.

The United States contributed nearly $900 million to WHO's budget for 2018-2019, according to information on the agency's website.

That represents one-fifth of its total $4.4 billion budget for those years. The U.S. gave nearly three-fourths of the funds in "specified voluntary contributions" and the rest in "assessed" funding as part of Washington's commitment to U.N. institutions.