Foreign Aid Freeze: Trump’s USAID Targeting Causes Chaos, Confusion

USAID employees protest outside the agency’s Washington headquarters. The Trump administration plans to eliminate thousands of jobs within USAID. Source: Manual Balce Ceneta via AP Photo

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the latest target of President Donald Trump’s far-reaching federal cuts. The Trump administration froze the agency’s funding for 90 days and promised to significantly shrink USAID’s workforce.

A federal judge has since ordered that funding for aid contracts must be temporarily reinstated after the move to slash foreign aid triggered lawsuits from multiple nonprofits. The administration’s attempt to put more than 2,000 USAID employees on administrative leave was also halted by a Trump-appointed judge in the DC District Court. 

The judicial stopgaps, however, are temporary, and the future of the agency remains unclear. Conservative critics have doubted the value of foreign aid for decades, and Trump’s “America First” policy is firmly against significant foreign assistance spending. 

Established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, USAID was created to counter Soviet propaganda and foreign aid as the developing world quickly became the Cold War’s ideological battleground. Kennedy hoped that improving the standard of living in underdeveloped nations would foster loyalty to the United States and steer countries away from the Soviet Union. 

USAID was created as a tool to exert soft power, the idea that the US can influence other nations by projecting American values and ideals rather than relying on coercive methods. But President Trump and his right-wing supporters prefer hard power, which relies on military and economic methods to garner international support. 

This is certainly not the first time President Trump has tried to slash foreign aid, but the Congress that stopped these cuts during Trump’s first term seems long gone. Today’s GOP representatives have remained silent as the President disregards the legislative branch and governs primarily through executive power. 

At the center of the frenzy around USAID is Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and leader of Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has taken to X, which he owns, to call USAID evil, corrupt and “a criminal organization.” Musk has persistently spread false claims about USAID online, including allegations that USAID funded the creation of COVID-19 and that the agency launders money to far-left organizations.

Critics have long accused USAID of misusing its funds, though a 2024 report by the Congressional Research Service found that administrative costs account for about 7.7% of USAID’s spending in the 2023 fiscal year (FY).

Foreign aid accounts for less than 1% of the federal budget. In FY2023, USAID managed around $40 billion and provided assistance to 130 countries. And while the United States is undoubtedly the largest donor of international assistance by dollar amount, 25 countries — 15 of which are members of the European Union — contribute a higher percent of gross national income. The United States’ development spending is a mere 0.24% of gross national income, ranking last of the G7 nations.

President Trump appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as USAID’s acting administrator. Trump, Musk and Rubio have made it clear that foreign aid will undergo serious restructuring, but the actual plans to implement change remain uncertain. There are reports that the administration intends to fold USAID into the State Department.

Already, the foreign aid freeze has affected health programs, particularly HIV treatment services, in 50 countries. Rubio issued emergency waivers to continue life-saving humanitarian programs, which have caused widespread confusion and forced operations in the world’s most vulnerable countries to shutter, at least temporarily. 

Sub-Saharan Africa will likely suffer the most from the freeze, as USAID-funded projects are at the center of famine relief, HIV prevention and medical support across the region, including areas embroiled in conflict like Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Migrant shelters and medical programs in Latin America have also been forced to halt operations. The Trump administration’s hasty decision to freeze foreign aid is expected to intensify some of the most pressing humanitarian crises across the world. Ukraine, especially, is in danger of losing not only military assistance but economic relief as well.

The freeze also gives the United States’ biggest rival, China, an opportunity to expand its influence. China has already spent more than $1 trillion on its Belt and Road Initiative, which builds critical infrastructure in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 

Ultimately, President Trump cannot lawfully dissolve, relocate or consolidate USAID without congressional authorization, but Congress has yet to stand up to the President’s flurry of orders. USAID partners, including the American Bar Association, have already sued the Trump administration for its dismantling of the agency — another lawsuit piled on as Trump’s executive orders test the limits of executive authority.