The Trump administration is creating new funding for anti-HIV programs and other health services, excluding key food programs.
US President Donald Trump announced a freeze on almost all new funding for foreign aid programs, with exceptions for allies and Egypt.
Friday’s State Department order also includes exceptions for emergency food programs, but not health programs that advocates say provide life-saving services.
In an accompanying memo, newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed senior officials to “ensure that there are no new obligations for foreign assistance to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
Humanitarian groups immediately expressed alarm at the guidance, fearing it could contribute to global instability and loss of life.
By cutting off foreign development assistance, the Trump administration is threatening the lives and futures of communities in crisis and abandoning America’s long-standing bipartisan approach to supporting people regardless of their politics. Oxfam America’s director said in a statement.
The temporary freeze is expected to last at least three months. During the first 85 days, Rubio is expected to decide “whether to revise, revise, or terminate the program,” according to the memo.
Among the health programs expected to experience a funding freeze is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as Pepfar.
Founded in 2003 under the administration of George W Bush, Pepfar enjoyed broad factional support for two decades until it missed a deadline to renew its funding in 2023. The funding won a one-year extension until March 2025, but is set to expire. Within a three month window.
Experts estimate that Pepfar has helped save 25 million lives since it was first launched.
Left untouched by the freeze, aid from Israel and Egypt are the biggest recipients of U.S. military aid.
Both countries have faced scrutiny over their human rights records and demands to leverage US aid in exchange for substantive reforms.
Friday’s memo made special mention of “administrative costs, including salaries required for foreign military financing and foreign military finance management for Israel and Egypt.”
There has been no indication of a similar waiver for Ukraine, which relies heavily on U.S. weapons support to repel a full-scale Russian invasion that began in February 2022.
Overall, the United States spent more than $600 billion on foreign aid in 2023, more than any other country.
However, this amount represents about 1% of U.S. government spending. In the wake of Friday’s memo, some aid projects around the world received working orders.
“This is crazy,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former official at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
He shared his anger with Reuters news agency. “This is going to kill people. If implemented as written in that cable… “Many people will die.”
