In recent news, USAID has been a main point of President Trump’s DOGE’s (Department of Government Efficiency) budget cuts. DOGE, led by Elon Musk, has been attempting to cut back on government waste. USAID, which stands for United States Agency for International Development, has been giving foreign aid to other countries since 1961. It is responsible for giving resources to underdeveloped countries, with the goal of developing countries into peaceful and safe countries. In 2023, through USAID, the US distributed nearly $44 Billion dollars of foreign aid to other countries. When Trump cut USAID, many countries were affected. In the first week, many soup kitchens in Khartoum, Sudan, were shut down. These soup kitchens feed 816,000 people. In Ukraine, people who provided maternal care, vaccinations, and firewood stopped the operations. In Thailand, patients were asked to leave a US-funded refugee hospital. In Syria, a security contractor nearly stopped operations at a camp that has ISIS members. In Uganda, USAID workers say about 40 newborns got HIV per day after funding for HIV treatments were halted. In Ivory Coast, a program collecting information relating to Al-Qaeda related incidents was interrupted and stopped collecting information. The billions of dollars the US government has invested in these countries has paid off. An example is Kenya, they’ve become one of the US’s most dependable allies in the developing world. The sudden end to the foreign aid leaves many items out to dry in warehouses. The US provided 20 million HIV patients with the medicine they need to survive. Hundreds of millions of food could rot in the ports and warehouses where it is now. USAID has been crucial in helping people in foreign countries out. Many people have died from the cuts already, and many foods will be wasted sitting in ports and warehouses. 

Cites – 

https://www.pewresearch.org