Topline
The State Department issued guidance stopping foreign aid grant spending for 90 days, multiple outlets reported Friday, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that sought to realign foreign spending with American interests.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, flanked by as his wife Jeanette Rubio, is sworn by Vice President JD ... [+]
Key Facts
The order from the State Department bans any new government spending on foreign aid projects, seemingly allowing existing programs to run only with the money they have on hand, the Associated Press reported, after obtaining cables sent from State to foreign embassies.
There was confusion on what the order meant, though, with some organizations seeing it as a stop-work order, according to the AP.
Politico reported it “appears to apply to funding for military assistance to Ukraine,” and Reuters reported the directive only included a waiver for aid to Israel and Egypt.
The executive order signed by Trump on Monday stated U.S. foreign aid and bureaucracy are not “aligned with American interests and in many cases [are] antithetical to American values.”
Forbes has reached out to the State Department for more information.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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What Did The Executive Order Call For?
The directive from the State Department seems to go beyond the requirements of Trump’s executive order, which was titled “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid.” It called for a 90-day pause in U.S. foreign development assistance to assess if they were efficiently spending money and whether it aligned with Trump’s foreign policy. The order said all foreign development assistance programs would pause new obligations and disbursements of funds, and that there would be reviews of foreign assistance programs to determine whether to continue, modify or cease the programs.
Key Background
Trump’s foreign aid policy promises largely revolved around returning to an “America First” mindset. While campaigning, he regularly said he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine before even taking office—though he recently said it was up to Russia to end the war and Ukraine is ready—and he said he wants to ask European allies to reimburse the U.S. for the weapons it sent to Ukraine during the war. Trump has criticized NATO and said he will not commit to defending allies through NATO who don’t spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense. He has also proposed imposing baseline tariffs on most foreign goods, and placing high tariffs on products from Mexico, China and Canada. Earlier this week, he threatened Russia with “high levels” of taxes, tariffs and sanctions if the war with Ukraine doesn’t end. Trump has been critical of how much aid the U.S. sent Ukraine under President Joe Biden, and said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s requests for money never stop. After Trump won the election in November, Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. was working to send “every dollar” possible to Ukraine before Trump took office.
Big Number
$65.9 billion. That’s about how much in security assistance the Biden administration committed to Ukraine since its war with Russia began in 2022, Biden’s defense department said earlier this month.
Further Reading
State Department freezes new funding for nearly all US aid programs worldwide (Associated Press)
State Department issues immediate, widespread pause on foreign aid (Politico)
Molly Bohannon is a reporter on the news team, where she covers a range of breaking news stories including politics, foreign and national news, and the
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