Sign at Feb. 5 protest in Washington, D.C. against Trump administration foreign aid cuts shows 2017 quote by then-U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, now the Secretary of State. (Photo by Stephanie Kenner/Shutterstock)
Close it down!” wrote President Donald Trump on his Truth Social app on Feb. 3. He was referring to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has worked worldwide since the early 1960s to administer humanitarian aid programs on behalf of the U.S. government. Previously—on Jan. 20, the day of his inauguration—President Trump had issued an executive order putting a 90-day pause on U.S. foreign development assistance to foreign countries, nongovernmental groups, international organizations and contractors. Trump and many of his supporters argue such aid is not a valuable use of taxpayer’s money. Encouraged by his top donor and the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, Trump has placed federal budgets under intense scrutiny, but USAID has arguably taken the biggest hit. Supporters of such assistance say drastic cuts would do tremendous harm around the world, not least in Latin America. In the process, they argue, domestic... [Log in to read more]
