The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a cornerstone of American humanitarian outreach for over six decades, is being dismantled under the directive of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The United Nations AIDS agency (UNAIDS) has warned that cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding could lead to an additional 2,000 new HIV infections every day worldwide.
The suspension of nearly all USAID funding by the Trump administration is shuttering vital humanitarian and anti-gang programs in Colombia’s poorest regions, jeopardizing the implementation of the country’s 2016 peace deal with leftist FARC rebels.
Hundreds of U.S. diplomats have formally protested the dismantling of USAID and the freeze on foreign aid, warning it undermines U.S. global leadership and strengthens adversaries like China and Russia.
In a brief ruling on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the Trump administration’s request to block a lower court’s order requiring the payment of nearly $2 billion in frozen USAID funds.
The Trump administration has announced a $60 billion reduction in global assistance, cutting over 90% of USAID contracts and reshaping U.S. foreign aid policy. The move has sparked legal challenges and raised concerns about the future of U.S. international support.
President Donald Trump’s administration announced a decision to place the majority of USAID personnel on paid administrative leave, with plans to cut about 2,000 positions in the U.S., according to a notice reviewed by Reuters.
USAID has long promoted itself as a supporter of press freedom, but reports suggest its media funding may have influenced domestic narratives in Europe and post-Soviet states. With the Trump administration freezing its grants, the agency’s role in shaping global information is under scrutiny.
A group of organizations and companies that contract with USAID has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of unlawfully dismantling the U.S. foreign aid agency and cutting off allocated funding.
The Trump administration will retain fewer than 300 staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) out of its global workforce of over 10,000, sources told Reuters. The decision follows USAID’s effective shutdown after Trump’s foreign aid freeze, leaving key relief efforts in crisis.
The Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid has thrown the global famine response system into disarray, halting food shipments, shuttering relief programs, and cutting off vital early warning systems. Aid groups warn that without action, millions face worsening hunger.
The Trump administration is considering merging USAID into the State Department, aligning foreign aid spending with its “America First” policy. Elon Musk, leading Trump’s federal cost-cutting drive, called USAID a “criminal organization”, as critics warn of global humanitarian risks.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who leads President Donald Trump's federal cost-cutting initiative, announced plans to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of a broader effort to shrink the government.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, speaking at a press conference in Baku with his Georgian counterpart Maka Bochorishvili on January 16, stated that his country had been "punished" by the U.S. under the 907th Amendment for restoring its sovereignty in 2023.
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