In announcing the donation Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang defended the WHO and said the agency under the leadership of Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been “actively fulfilling its duties and upholding an objective, scientific and impartial stance.”

With the gift, Geng said, China was “defending the ideals and principle of multilateralism and upholding the status and authority of the United Nations.”

U.N. officials, including Tedros, have asked Trump to reconsider last week’s decision, which could be reversed after 60 to 90 days, for the sake of global public health in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic and “to save lives.”

But a reversal appears distant after administration officials doubled down on their public criticism of the organization this week.