Donald Trump seeks to halt the program that provides one-third of global humanitarian aid.

Protests over the loss of USAID. FMT. CC By 4.0.

The United States Agency for International Development, commonly known as USAID, is a federal agency focused on funding global projects to fight disease, provide education, implement clean resources and supplement development worldwide. In 2023, the United States supplied around $72 billion in humanitarian aid worldwide, money that President Donald Trump has now halted. Some of USAID’s most critical projects include rainforest conservation efforts, humanitarian aid in South America, disease clinics in Africa, medical assistance in war-torn countries such as Syria and Sudan, media projects in areas under heavy Russian influence like the Balkans and Ukrainian refugee aid, one of their largest areas of support. USAID provides essential general health services, reproductive health services and life-saving surgeries to those who would otherwise be unable to receive such care. The HIV and AIDS project in Africa, also known as PEFPAR, has saved over 26 million lives to date. USAID has provided emergency assistance to citizens in Colombia and Venezuela fleeing economic and drug-related crises. Their Ukraine projects include evacuation fuel, free tickets to leave war zones and the establishment of refugee shelters in the country.

USAID has been providing humanitarian aid and support across the globe for more than fifty years. USAID and other sources of humanitarian aid originating in the United States amount to the world’s largest body of global assistance, something that Trump is looking to freeze.

Among his slew of other executive orders from his first days in office, Trump issued an executive order pausing all foreign aid for ninety days, claiming that agencies like USAID “destabilize world peace.” The executive order was followed by a complete shutdown of the USAID website as thousands of employees were laid off or placed on administrative leave, keeping only a handful of employees active. It has been reported that fewer than 300 members of the formerly larger-than-10,000 staff remain. Current and former USAID staff and other government employees have expressed their horror with the move, while Trump’s close ally Elon Musk celebrated the freeze online, claiming that USAID is a “criminal organization” and a threat to the United States. While USAID can only technically be completely dismantled by Congress, Trump has done all that he can to restrict the agency’s power and ability. A judge temporarily issued a restraining order following a lawsuit against Trump’s actions, but the order will only remain in place for a brief period, ceasing on Feb. 14, 2025. Legal action surrounding Trump’s order is fighting multiple angles of the issue, saying that it is unconstitutional and causing immense harm to the workers affected.

Following the halt of USAID’s proceedings came significant fear and speculation surrounding the future of the countries and people reliant on its programs for survival. The former head of USAID, J. Brian Atwood, grimly predicted that there would be many deaths worldwide without the humanitarian aid so desperately needed. Experts estimate that USAID has helped to save millions of lives, a number that foreshadows the deaths that could occur in its absence. The deputy executive director of the United Nations AIDS program predicts that without USAID and PEFPAR, AIDS deaths will increase by over six million in the next five years.

A world without USAID is a world set to be fraught with struggle. The rapid withdrawal of aid has induced refugee camp managers and guards in Syria to walk off the job, medical clinics to close their doors, lifesaving drugs and procedures to be withheld and millions to be without access to food, clean water and other essentials. Experts also fear that a lack of humanitarian aid and presence worldwide, known as “soft power,” will open the door for adversaries like China and Russia to swoop in and establish a more global power, ultimately weakening national security for the United States. The loss of hundreds of millions in funding to Ukraine hands Russia an opportunity to further advance the war, and the lack of presence in Africa will enable China to push further into the continent in an attempt to gain some semblance of economic control.

While the European Union countries have significant budgets for humanitarian aid worldwide, they do not possess the same presence and widespread reach as the United States. Operating programs will likely struggle, as those reliant on USAID will be forced to turn to limited existing programs, overwhelming them and placing greater strain on global resources. In addition to costing millions of innocent lives, stopping aid will cost the United States critical global influence, destabilizing national security and causing a ripple effect of chaos worldwide.