WHO should be 'ashamed' of itself, it is like a PR agency for China: Trump

US President Donald Trump has said the World Health Organisation should be "ashamed" of itself, as he likened it to a public relations agency for China amidst the coronavirus pandemic after it originated in Wuhan.

The Trump administration has launched a probe into the role of the WHO on coronavirus, and has temporarily suspended the US' financial assistance to it.

"I think that the World Health Organisation should be ashamed of themselves because they are like the public relations agency for China," Trump told reporters in the East Room of the White House on Thursday.

Ever since the virus outbreak came to light in Wuhan in December last, speculation has been rife on whether the viral strain originated from China's premier Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) or from its nearby Huanan Seafood Market. The US has launched an investigation into whether the deadly virus "escaped" from the WIV.

China has come under increasing global pressure over lack of transparency in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far infected over 3,257,000 people and killed 233,400 others across the world.

Besides the US, the UK, Australia and Germany have also called for more transparency from Beijing on the COVID-19 origin.

The US, Trump reiterated, pays the WHO almost USD500 million a year and China pays them USD38 million a year. "Whether it's a lot more, it doesn't matter. They shouldn't be making excuses when people make horrible mistakes, especially mistakes that are causing hundreds of thousands of people around the world to die."