USAID dissolved: Trump reshapes US foreign aid
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been officially dissolved, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Tuesday.
This decision comes just months after President Donald Trump's return to the White House and is accompanied by sweeping measures to restructure U.S. foreign aid, The Hill reported.
According to the Trump administration, USAID's closure is part of a campaign to eliminate "waste, fraud, and abuse" and reorient funds toward projects that directly benefit the United States. Marco Rubio stated that U.S. foreign assistance "has failed to yield results." "This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially ended," Rubio wrote in a post.
USAID's official closure follows a study published Monday in The Lancet Medical journal, which warns that the withdrawal of U.S. support could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths worldwide, including 4.5 million children. International reactions were swift: Democrats and the humanitarian community strongly criticized USAID's closure, labeling it "unconstitutional, cruel, and dangerous."
The American Foreign Service Association warned that the measure could have far-reaching consequences for U.S. diplomatic and humanitarian relations. "It's an open wound in American diplomacy that may never heal," read the statement from the American diplomats' union.
Of the $120 billion in active contracts at the start of the year, only $69 billion were retained, according to The New York Times. These included 580 humanitarian programs, 167 health projects, and 65 economic development initiatives.
Rubio clarified that the State Department will assume responsibility for distributing foreign aid, promising "more accountability, strategy, and efficiency." The announcement was applauded by President Trump's congressional supporters, including the Republican majority on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which posted a message of support on platform X: "America First: Every dollar, every diplomat."
However, R. Nicholas Burns, former U.S. Ambassador to China, warned that USAID's closure is a "historic mistake" that will impact America's global standing and its ability to compete with China's growing influence.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
