After Leaving WHO, the US Now Freezes Almost All Foreign Aid

Jakarta -The United States Department of State has frozen almost all foreign aid worldwide. This decision was made following an executive order by Donald Trump, who has resumed his role as President of the United States.

Reported by CNN, Saturday (25/1/2025), Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a telegram to all US diplomatic posts on Friday outlining the measure. The message threatens billions of dollars in funding from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for programs worldwide.

Foreign aid has become a target of anger from Republicans in Congress and Trump administration officials, but that funding accounts for only a small fraction of the overall U.S. budget. The scope of the executive order and subsequent telegrams has left humanitarian officials shaken.

The telegram called for an immediate work stoppage on existing foreign aid and the cessation of new aid. The message stated that in the coming months, the government will develop standards to review whether the aid aligns with President Trump’s foreign policy agenda.

“The decision to continue, modify, or terminate the program will be made after this review,” the telegram statement said, noting that the review must be completed within 85 days.

The order from the State Department provides relief for emergency food aid as well as foreign military financing for Israel and Egypt. The telegram did not specifically mention other countries receiving foreign military financing, such as Ukraine or Taiwan.

A humanitarian official said that the pause was very disturbing and that the details of the telegram were the worst thing that could happen.

In his executive order last Monday, Trump claimed that foreign aid is not in line with U.S. interests.

“The foreign aid industry and the US bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases are contrary to American values,” said Trump.

However, one official noted that aid programs, such as those related to global health, which are targeted by the freeze, are in the interest of the U.S. and have received bipartisan support.

“Ensuring there is no pandemic is in our interest.” “Global stability is our interest,” said the US official.

It is known that Trump made a controversial decision. Trump withdrew the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). According to him, the WHO mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic and other global health issues.

Trump believes that the WHO has failed to act independently from political influence and has imposed burdensome payments on the US. According to him, the WHO’s imposition of tariffs is not proportional compared to other larger countries, such as China.

“World Health deceived us, everyone deceived the United States.” “It won’t happen again,” Trump said after signing the order to withdraw from the WHO, quoted from Reuters, Tuesday (21/1).

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