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Hours after Trump took office on 20 January, he signed an executive order halting all foreign assistance until such funds were vetted and aligned with his “America First” policy.
That led to a stop work order at USAID, which has in turn upended the global aid system as hundreds of programmes have been frozen in countries around the world.
On Friday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “USAID IS DRIVING THE RADICAL LEFT CRAZY.
“THE CORRUPTION IS AT LEVELS RARELY SEEN BEFORE. CLOSE IT DOWN!”
The US is by far the biggest single provider of humanitarian aid around the world. It has bases in more than 60 countries and works in dozens of others, with much of its work carried out by its contractors.
According to government data, the US spent $68bn (£55bn) on international aid in 2023.
That total is spread across several departments and agencies, but USAID’s budget constitutes more than half of it at around $40bn – that’s about 0.6% of total US annual government spending of $6.75tn.
Former USAID chiefs have criticised the reported cutback plan. One of them, Gayle Smith, stressed to the BBC that the US had always been the fastest to arrive during humanitarian crises around the world.
“When you pull all of that out, you send some very dangerous messages,” Smith said. “The US is signalling that we don’t frankly care whether people live or die and that we’re not a reliable partner.”
