The Trump administration’s move to dismantle US institutions that help fight hunger and poverty abroad, as America is rushing to fill the void, shocking the fear that America will lose its place on the world stage I did.
There is growing concern in Washington that it will temporarily suspend support from the US International Development Agency. “We’re opening the windows for China and Russia,” former senior USAID official George Ingram told NBC News in a phone interview Thursday.
He is one of the experts who warn that the decision will lead to American influence in Africa, South America and Asia, distributing assistance from healthcare to cleansing and non-governmental organizations, aid agencies and non-profit organizations. It addresses a variety of needs to do. USAID also provides millions of dollars of military aid to Israel and Ukraine.
Ingram, a senior fellow at the Brookings facility, a Washington-based think tank, said Trump had suspended most foreign aid and “decapitated its staff’s USAID” and “no one had expected.” .
However, on his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order to suspend foreign aid funding for at least 90 days, allowing his administration to review compatibility with his “America First” policy.
Since then, hundreds of USAID employees and contractors have been fired or collapsed, with most foreign aids stagnating. As of Monday, the USAID website is no longer loaded on the web, causing a message saying it cannot find the server IP address.
Earlier on Monday, Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, called “special government officials” by the White House, said the plan was to close USAID. “You basically have to remove the whole thing. That’s beyond repair,” he said. “We’re shutting it down.”
The billionaire appointed by Trump to run government efficiency said he spoke in detail about the president and USAID “we agreed to shut it down.”
“I actually checked with him a few times (and) said, ‘Are you sure?'” Trump replied, “Yes,” Musk added.
On Monday, when asked if it would require Congressional acts to abolish USAID, Trump said: “I don’t know, I don’t think so… we just want to do the right thing.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said he has begun tapping Pete Marrocco, the current acting director of USAID and director of foreign aid for the State Department, to consider all the work USAID has done. He also warned that certain projects or programs could be suspended or eliminated.
The Trump administration plan was “not about terminating the programmes that USAID itself does,” he said. However, a review of Marrocco could lead to “stop or eliminate programs, projects, or activities.” Closure or suspend a mission or post. Closure, reorganization, downsizing or renaming a facility, organization, department, center, or office. Reducing the size of the workforce in such entities and contracting or privatizing functions or activities carried out by federal employees,” Rubio added.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Rubio said: “This is not about removing foreign aid. There are times when we should continue to do it through USAID, but that makes sense. And we must decide that it is better through the State Department. Not or is it something better through reformed USAID?”
But the funding freeze has already “has a direct impact on people whose lives are already vulnerable,” Peter Taylor, director of the Development Institute, said in a phone interview Thursday. In one case, the hygiene programming workshop was immediately suspended, he added.
A review by the Congressional Research Service last month found that USAID provides support among the top 10 recipients to around 130 countries in Jordan, Syria, Ethiopia and South Sudan. However, Ukraine is at the top of the list, and has been at war with Russia for nearly three years since the Ukrainian president began his invasion.
It also provides multi-million dollar military aid to Israel and humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during Israeli military attacks.
Last month, NBC News reported that Rubio issued exemptions from foreign military funding in both Israel and Egypt despite the funding freeze. The exemption was also approved for “administrative fees including emergency food aid and salaries necessary to manage such assistance.”
According to USAID, in 2023, the United States dedicated more than $44.6 billion to international development around the world. However, that represents less than 1% of the budget for foreign aid, with a lower overall share than some other countries.
“American enemies are happy”
Established as an independent body by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, USAID countered the influence of the Soviet Union at the time during the Cold War, and based on the idea that American security was linked to stability, it was a wide range of foreign countries. It was designed to implement support programs. Economic progress in other countries.
Since then, foreign aid has been widely regarded as the cornerstone of soft power popularized by American political scientist Joseph Nye in the 1980s.
Nye said he thought Trump lacked “understanding soft power.”
“Power is the ability to let others do what you want, and you can do it in three ways. You can force it to do it. You pay Do it with. He told NBC News in a phone interview Tuesday.
“I think it’s an unfortunate moment,” he said of the drastic changes and uncertainties regarding our foreign aid. “It’s based on misunderstandings of all elements of power.”
The decision to suspend aid without warning has already “has a major impact,” saying, “it has seriously damaged the trust that the US has built over the years, and that many countries are implementing foreign aid programs. He added: It is believed to be reliable and work for the benefit of those countries.”
Michael Schiffer, who served as assistant administrator for the USAID Bureau in Asia from 2022 to January, was a much more sluggish review in an opinion article published in the online forum Just Security.
“The Trump administration has just placed America last, handing gifts to our biggest enemy, especially China,” he wrote. “American alliances will suffer. American partners will be in danger, and American enemies will be pleased,” he said.
The US national security, along with a rapid shift in development programs that put in danger of instability in countries around the world, affect extremism and potentially deepen the migration crisis, has led to the rise of a rapid change in development programs. “Erosion,” he added.
Several of Trump’s allies have provided similar warnings.
Trump’s budget chief, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Rs.C., during a confirmation hearing of the Senate Budget Committee on Russell Vert. Last month, I warned about the importance of soft power as a “important element of America and our values.”
“If you’re not involved in the world and you don’t have a program in Africa where China is trying to buy the entire continent, we’re making a mistake,” he said. “The concept of soft power means a lot to me. It comes from a pretty taki guy.”
