CDC director contradicts Trump by calling WHO a ‘great partner', as US coronavirus death toll records highest single-day jump

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director has contradicted the president by saying the World Health Organisation was a "great partner" to the organisation, as the US coronavirus death toll records its highest single-day jump.

Dr Robert Redfield appeared on CBS This Morning on Wednesday after Mr Trump announced during his daily press conference that the White House would be temporarily pulling funding from the WHO.

When asked, Dr Redfield refused to answer how the pulling of funding would impact the WHO as it worked to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The US was the largest contributor to the organisation's budget.

The director said he preferred to leave "geo-political issues" to those in charge, but he did admit the CDC still considered the WHO a "strong partner" during the health crisis.

"WHO has been a long-term and still is a great partner for us," he said. "We're continuing to work side-by-side to do the best that we can to limit the spread of disease and to protect the American people."

These statements were reiterated when Dr Redfield appeared on ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday.

"We've had a really productive health relationship. We continue to have that," he said.

The director thought it was better to focus on what went wrong in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic "post-mortem" once the situation calmed down. "Again, I'd like to do the post mortem on this outbreak once we get through it together," he said.

Critics have slammed the president for pulling funding from the WHO amid a pandemic given how much the organisation needs this money to handle Covid-19 globally.

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, whose foundation is the second largest contributor to the WHO's budget, addressed Mr Trump's decision in a tweet on Wednesday.

"Halting funding for the World Health Organisation during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds," Mr Gates wrote."Their work is slowing the spread of Covid-19 and if that work is stopped no other organisation can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever."

While at a news conference in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the pulling of funding.

"We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organisation," he said.

The organisation would now make an "assessment" of how a decrease in funding would impact programs within the organisation "and then announce it officially."

Mr Trump announced he was pulling funding from the WHO while a review was conducted.

The decision was made, in part, because the president claimed the organisation was slow in declaring the coronavirus a pandemic and providing countries with proper warnings. Instead, the president thought the WHO was supporting China too much, especially when the group criticised his travel ban.

"The WHO's attack on travel restrictions put political correctness above lifesaving measures," Mr Trump said.

His decision on Tuesday comes on the same day the US posted its largest single-day death toll, with nearly 2,500 Americans dying from the novel virus.

Health experts have warned pulling the WHO funding could impact how the organisation, and other countries, fight the virus in the coming months. The UK, in comparison, increased its funding towards the WHO amid the pandemic.