Trump administration slashes 92% of foreign aid contracts
The administration of President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that it has nearly eliminated all aid and subsidy programmes under the Foreign Aid (USAID) program, which is now under the control of the State Department.
The communication states that "during activities involving the revision of USAID operations conducted under the personal supervision of the U.S. Secretary of State, nearly 5,800 contracts worth approximately £44 billion were reviewed and qualified for elimination under the America First agenda." This is 92 percent of all these contracts.
The White House announces the termination of these programmes
The communication further states that 28 percent of American foreign subsidies, amounting to about £3.6 billion, were also to be eliminated.
Media outlets in Latin America reported on Thursday that the freezing of USAID programmes was one of Donald Trump’s first decisions after resuming the presidency. They highlighted that this decision fundamentally threatens the implementation of many investment programmes in countries of the region, which are crucial for their economy and the living standards of their societies.
In 2023, the global aid value that Latin America received through USAID was estimated at around £1.4 billion.
Haiti, the poorest country in the region, affected by a civil war led by gangs, was supposed to receive approximately £260 million this year through USAID.
Trump halted funding. Alerting about the consequences
The British daily Guardian warned at the beginning of February that U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to cease funding humanitarian aid led, among other things, to the closure of food warehouses in Sudan and a halt in work on a malaria vaccine. According to the newspaper, this has deepened the crisis in the world's poorest regions.
USAID has been an independent federal agency since 1961. It is the largest state aid institution in the world, with a budget of over £41 billion, or 0.7 percent of the federal budget. USAID operates in over 100 countries worldwide.
After protests from organisations and humanitarian activists, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio exempted the most urgent humanitarian programmes, including the PEPFAR AIDS drug distribution programme, from the order.
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