Fears that America would lose its position on the international scene as competing nations scramble to fill the hole have been heightened by the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the American organization that aids in combating poverty and malnutrition abroad.
In a phone interview with NBC News on Thursday, George Ingram, a former senior USAID official, expressed rising concerns in Washington that temporarily suspending aid from the U.S. Agency for International Development creates an opening for China and Russia.
In Africa, South America, and Asia, where it provides aid to nongovernmental groups, aid agencies, and charities, addressing everything from health care to clean water, he was among a number of experts who warned that the choice would result in a decline in American influence. Additionally, USAID has given Israel and Ukraine millions of dollars in military assistance.
According to Ingram, who is currently a senior scholar at the Brookings Institution, a think tank with headquarters in Washington, no one had predicted that Trump would stop the majority of foreign funding before stripping USAID of its staff.
However, Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office that stopped paying foreign aid for at least ninety days so his administration could assess whether the program aligned with his America First philosophy.
Since then, the majority of foreign aid has stopped flowing, hundreds of USAID personnel and contractors have been let off or placed on furlough, and as of Monday, the organization’s website no longer loads on the internet, displaying the error message that its server IP address cannot be located.
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and someone the White House has designated a special government employee, stated earlier Monday that the goal was to shut down USAID. Basically, you have to get rid of everything. “It’s irreparable,” he said. We are going to shut it down.
According to the billionaire Trump appointed to head the Department of Government Efficiency, he discussed USAID in depth with the president, who concurred that it should be shut down.
In fact, I asked him several times, “Are you certain?” “Yes,” Trump said, adding Musk.
When asked on Monday if a congressional act would be necessary to end USAID, Trump responded, “I don’t know, I don’t think so. We just want to do the right thing.”
Additionally, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Monday that he was now the acting director of USAID and that he had appointed State Department Foreign Assistance Director Pete Marocco to start going over all of USAID’s operations. Additionally, he issued a warning that some programs or projects would be halted or discontinued.
According to him, the Trump administration’s strategy did not specifically aim to terminate USAID’s projects. However, Marocco’s review may result in the termination or suspension of programs, projects, or activities; the closure or suspension of missions or posts; the closing, restructuring, downsizing, or renaming of establishments, organizations, bureaus, centers, or offices; a reduction in the number of employees at such entities; and the contracting out or privatization of tasks or activities carried out by federal employees, Rubio continued.
Rubio stated in an interview with Fox News on Monday: This is not about eliminating foreign aid. It makes reasonable that we should keep doing some of the things we do through USAID. And we’ll need to determine whether it’s preferable to do that through the State Department or through a redesigned USAID.
However, Peter Taylor, head of the Institute of Development Studies, stated in a phone interview on Thursday that the funding restriction was already directly affecting those whose lives are already at risk. He noted that in one instance, a sanitation programming session was abruptly stopped.
According to a Congressional Research Service analysis last month, USAID helped over 130 nations, with South Sudan, Ethiopia, Syria, and Jordan ranking among the top 10. However, Ukraine was at the top of the list. Since President Vladimir Putin invaded the country over three years ago, Ukraine and Russia have been at war.
While offering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s military incursion in the enclave, it has also given Israel millions of dollars in military assistance.
Rubio waived foreign military funds for Egypt and Israel, according to NBC News this month, despite the funding freeze. Additionally, emergency food aid and the administrative costs—such as salaries—necessary to provide such help were waived.
According to USAID, the United States spent around $44.6 billion on global international development in Fiscal Year 2023. However, that is less than 1% of its foreign aid budget, which is a lesser percentage overall than in some other nations.
America s enemies will rejoice
Based on the notion that American security was linked to stability and economic progress in other countries, President John F. Kennedy established USAID as an independent agency in 1961 with the goal of managing various foreign assistance programs and thwarting the influence of the then-Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Since then, foreign aid has been widely seen as a key component of soft power, a concept coined by American political scientist Joseph Nye in the 1980s to refer to the capacity to persuade people to achieve desired results.
According to Ingram, the decision to abruptly stop aid will already have a big effect and would seriously harm the faith that the United States has accumulated over the years in many nations that run reliable foreign aid programs that are perceived as serving those nations’ interests.
In an opinion piece posted on the internet site Just Security, Michael Schiffer, who was the assistant administrator of the USAID Bureau for Asia from 2022 until January, was more direct in his view.
He added, “The Trump administration has just given a gift to our biggest enemies, particularly China, while putting America last.” America will lose its allies. American allies will be in danger. “And America’s adversaries will be happy,” he added.
Abrupt changes to development programs run the risk of causing instability in nations worldwide, which might incite extremism and exacerbate migration issues, he continued, undermining U.S. national security.
Similar cautions have been made by some of Trump’s supporters.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., cautioned last month at the confirmation hearing for Trump’s choice for budget head, Russell Vought, that soft power is essential to protecting America and our ideals.
“We’re making a mistake if you don’t get involved in the world and you don’t have programs in Africa where China is trying to buy the entire continent,” he remarked. Coming from a really hawkish individual, I find the idea of soft power to be very meaningful.