Trump talks about WHO letter, US-Canada border

President Donald Trump doubled down Tuesday on his threats to cut U.S. funding to the World Heath Organization.

In a letter to WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump wrote the agency's "repeated missteps" in its response to the pandemic have proven "very costly for the world."  He said U.S. funding would be cut unless it commits to "substantive improvements" in the next 30 days.

Speaking at the White House during an event with farmers, Trump said the WHO has to "clean up their act. They have to do a better job. They have to be much more fair to other countries, including the United States. Or we're not going to be involved with them. And we'll do it a separate way."

The president didn't expand on specific steps he was asking the organization to take.

Trump also confirmed that the United States and Canada are extending their agreement to keep the border closed to non-essential travel until June 21 during the coronavirus pandemic.

Asked if the ban on non-essential travel is in fact being extended, Trump said, "for now, yes, but we're talking to Canada."

He said he looked forward to its eventual end, promising "we want to get back, everything we want to get back to normal."

The restrictions were announced on March 18 and were extended in April. Essential cross-border workers like healthcare professionals, airline crews and truck drivers are still permitted to cross. Truck drivers are critical as they move food and medical goods in both directions. Much of Canada's food supply comes from or via the U.S.

Canada sends 75% of its exports to the U.S. and about 18% of American exports go to Canada. The U.S. Canada border is world's longest between two nations.