Trump Photo:Xinhua

 Irish Minister for Health Simon Harris on Friday described U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to cut ties with the World Health Organization (WHO) as an "awful decision."

He made the remark in his twitter account shortly after Trump announced that his country is terminating its relationship with the WHO at a press conference held at the White House on Friday afternoon.

"Awful decision. Now more than ever the world needs multilateralism. A global pandemic requires the world to work together," Harris tweeted.

"If we are looking for a villain, it's simple -- but it's not any organization -- it's the virus," he continued.

"We should unite in our fight against it & not fight each other," he said.

Earlier this month in a statement issued before his address to the World Health Assembly, Harris said that "In this time of great crisis, we need unity, not division. We cannot allow the politicization of this pandemic. Ireland stands shoulder to shoulder with the WHO."