Does Trump’s withdrawal from WHO signal his views on alcohol?

His reason for leaving could indicate a more science-based view on alcohol policy

Does Trump’s withdrawal via executive order from the World Health Organization (WHO) signal how his administration will view the alcohol review portion of the process for reevaluating the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA)?

Will pulling out from WHO, which has orchestrated a global anti-alcohol campaign, signify that Trump’s health team will revisit the Biden Administration’s recommendation from the Surgeon General that alcohol beverages should carry cancer warning labels?

Or cue any impugn for the biased report developed by the secretive Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) which has declared any alcohol consumption increases mortality risk?

After all, these moves by the Biden Administration align with the WHO’s alcohol stance pronounced in 2022 that there is no level of alcohol that is safe for adult consumption.

And Trump did state the U.S. is pulling out of WHO because of “its inability to demonstrate its independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states,” among other reasons, including its mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the U.S.’s “unfair” payments to support the organization.

One of the many criticisms of the current review of alcohol as part of the DGA update process has been the influence of outside, biased interests. Several of the participants on the ICCPUD panel, which is housed under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), are Canadian and have been criticized within their own border for not following established science-based protocols and espousing anti-alcohol agendas.

And it’s fair to say that the WHO is not subtle about pushing its biased alcohol stance. After all, its communications team produced a detailed playbook aimed at training policy makers to carry their political torch. Their member-endorsed global alcohol action plan 2022-2030 has an audacious goal to reduce alcohol use through “high-impact” policies aimed at national, regional, and global levels. It has successfully influenced health policies in Europe—most notably in Ireland which became the first country in Europe to require cancer warning labels on alcoholic beverages—and continues to wield influence throughout the world.

The WHO has been a target of Trump’s since his first administration when he began the process of withdrawal in 2020. Biden halted that move and recommitted to the organization that also informs on a myriad of global health issues. But Trump has succeeded during his second term to keep his campaign promise of rejecting international institutions.

And as we look for cues on how the new administration will view alcohol health policy, Trump’s action on the dawn of his presidency could indicate that he favors an unbiased approach to the drafting of new 2025 guidelines, a welcome change from the previous Administration.