WASHINGTON: The State Department ordered a sweeping freeze Friday on new funding for almost all US foreign assistance, making exceptions for emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt.
The order threatened a quick halt to many of the billions of dollars in US-funded projects globally to support health, education, development, job training, anti-corruption, security assistance and other efforts.
The US provides more foreign aid globally than any other country, budgeting about $60 billion in 2023, or about 1 percent of the US budget.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s order, delivered in a cable sent to US embassies worldwide, specifically exempted emergency food programs, such as those helping to feed millions in a widening famine in warring Sudan.
The cable spells out the execution of the aid-freezing executive order President Donald Trump signed on Monday.
But Friday’s order especially disappointed humanitarian officials by not including specific exemptions for life-saving health programs, such as clinics and immunization programs.
A globally acclaimed anti-HIV program, the President’s Emergency Relief Plan for AIDS Relief, was among those included in the spending freeze, slated to last at least three months. Known as PEPFAR, the program is credited with saving 25 million lives, including those of 5.5 million children, since it was started by Republican President George W. Bush.
Some aid projects began receiving their first stop-work orders under the freeze Friday afternoon.
Some leading aid organizations also were interpreting the directive as an immediate stop-work order for US-funded aid work globally, a former senior US Agency for International Development official said. Many would likely cease operations immediately so as not to incur more costs, the official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Suspending funding “could have life or death consequences” for children and families around the world, said Abby Maxman, head of Oxfam America.
“By suspending foreign development assistance, the Trump administration is threatening the lives and futures of communities in crisis, and abandoning the United States’ long-held bipartisan approach to foreign assistance which supports people based on need, regardless of politics,” Maxman said in a statement.
At the United Nations, deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said: “These are bilateral decisions but nonetheless we expect those nations who have the capability to generously fund development assistance.”
While Rubio’s order exempted military assistance to allies Israel and Egypt from the freeze, there was no indication of a similar waiver to allow vital US military assistance to Ukraine through.
The Biden administration pushed military aid to Ukraine out the door before leaving office because of doubts about whether Trump would continue it. But there is still about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding for any future arms shipments to Ukraine and it is now up to Trump to decide whether or not to spend it.
The sweeping freeze begins enforcement of a pledge from Trump and other Republicans to crack down on US aid programs.
Also on Friday, the State Department agency overseeing refugee and resettlement sent guidance to the resettlement agencies it works with, saying they had to immediately “suspend all work” under the foreign assistance they were receiving. While there was little clarity in the guidance, the notification suggests resettlement agencies that work with refugees, including Afghans who arrived on special immigrant visas, might have to halt their work at least temporarily.
Florida Republican Rep. Brian Mast, the new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, promised this week that Republicans would question “every dollar and every diplomat” in the State Department’s budget to ensure it met their standards for strictly necessary.
The freeze was necessary to ensure that “appropriations are not duplicated, are effective, and are consistent with President Trump’s foreign policy,” the global cable stated.
Within the next month, standards for a review of all foreign assistance are expected to be set to ensure that it is “aligned with President Trump’s foreign policy agenda,” the cable said. And within three months, the government-wide review is expected to be completed with a subsequent report to be produced for Rubio to make recommendations to the president.
US freezes new funding for nearly all its aid programs worldwide
https://arab.news/25am4
US freezes new funding for nearly all its aid programs worldwide
- Secretary of State Rubio’s order specifically exempted emergency food programs, such as those helping to feed millions in a widening famine in warring Sudan
- Military assistance to allies Israel and Egypt from the freeze, but there was no indication of a similar waiver to allow vital US military assistance to Ukraine
Starmer arrives in China to defend ‘pragmatic’ partnership
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, hoping to restore long fraught relations
BEIJING: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, hoping to restore long fraught relations.
It is the first visit to China by a UK prime minister since 2018 and follows a string of Western leaders courting Beijing in recent weeks, pivoting from a mercurial United States.
Starmer, who is also expected to visit Shanghai on Friday, will later make a brief stop in Japan to meet with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
For Xi, the trip is an opportunity to show Beijing can be a reliable partner at a time when President Donald Trump’s policies have rattled historic ties between Washington and its Western allies.
Starmer is battling record low popularity polls and hopes the visit can boost Britain’s beleaguered economy.
The trip has been lauded by Downing Street as a chance to boost trade and investment ties while raising thorny issues such as national security and human rights.
Starmer will meet with Xi for lunch on Thursday, followed by a meeting with Premier Li Qiang.
The British leader said on Wednesday this visit to China was “going to be a really important trip for us,” vowing to make “some real progress.”
There are “opportunities” to deepen bilateral relations, Starmer told reporters traveling with him on the plane to China.
“It doesn’t make sense to stick our head in the ground and bury in the sand when it comes to China, it’s in our interests to engage and not compromise on national security,” he added.
China, for its part, “is willing to take this visit as an opportunity to enhance political mutual trust,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun reiterated Wednesday during a news briefing.
Starmer is the latest Western leader to be hosted by Beijing in recent months, following visits by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Faced with Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Canada for signing a trade agreement with China, and the US president’s attempts to create a new international institution with his “Board of Peace,” Beijing has been affirming its support for the United Nations to visiting leaders.
Reset ties
UK-China relations plummeted in 2020 after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, which severely curtailed freedoms in the former British colony.
They soured further since with both powers exchanging accusations of spying.
Starmer, however, was quick to deny fresh claims of Chinese spying after the Telegraph newspaper reported Monday that China had hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years.
“There’s no evidence of that. We’ve got robust schemes, security measures in place as you’d expect,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Since taking the helm in 2024, Starmer has been at pains to reset ties with the world’s second-largest economy and Britain’s third-biggest trade partner.
In China, he will be accompanied by around 60 business leaders from the finance, pharmaceutical, automobile and other sectors, and cultural representatives as he tries to balance attracting vital investment and appearing firm on national security concerns.
The Labour leader also spoke to Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil in November 2024.
Jimmy Lai
The prime minister is also expected to raise the case of Hong Kong media mogul and democracy supporter Jimmy Lai, 78, a British national facing years in prison after being found guilty of collusion charges in December.
When asked by reporters about his plans to discuss Lai’s case, Starmer avoided specifics, but said engaging with Beijing was to ensure that “issues where we disagree can be discussed.”
“You know my practice, which is to raise issues that need to be raised,” added Starmer, who has been accused by the Conservative opposition of being too soft in his approach to Beijing.
Reporters Without Borders urged Starmer in a letter to secure Lai’s release during his visit.
The British government has also faced fierce domestic opposition after it approved this month contentious plans for a new Chinese mega-embassy in London, which critics say could be used to spy on and harass dissidents.
At the end of last year, Starmer acknowledged that China posed a “national security threat” to the UK, drawing flak from Chinese officials.
The countries also disagree on key issues including China’s close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the war in Ukraine, and accusations of human rights abuses in China.
