US, February 10 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): US President Donald Trump is working in an all-out manner to shut down US Agency for International Development (AID), calling it a “tremendous fraud” and saying it funded “ridiculous projects”.
This is the same agency that his wife, Melania Trump, and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, had promoted internationally during Trump’s first term as President.
What had Melania said?
On a four-country tour in Africa in 2018, Melania had called USAID’s programs “successful” and said, “We care, and we want to show the world that we care, and I’ve partnered and am working with USAID.”
In another instance during the same tour, Melania handed out bags and school supplies as part of her “BeBest” initiative, also launched in collaboration with USAID.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, she had said, “It’s really touching…I’m glad that I’m here to see in person what children are going through and see that [USAID is] educating them in the right way.”
“[Melania] was well-brief, she was personally interested, she was very impressed that we were working so closely” with local government in Egypt, a former USAID official told ABC News while recalling the US First Lady’s 2018 visit to Egypt. The official, who did not wish to be named, said it’s “hard to stomach” what President Trump has done to dismantle USAID.
Ivanka had rallied behind USAID too
In 2019 during President Trump’s first term in office, he’d signed a memo launched “Women’s Global Development and Prosperity” Initiative, a $50-million fund developed to be distributed by USAID with the aim of empowering women in the developing world. Donald Trump’s daughter and then senior advisor Ivanka had led the initiative.
“There’s a reason today, the President signed [the memo] as a national security presidential memorandum…It is in our domestic security interests to empower women,” Ivanka had told the news outlet in 2019.
In 2018, Ivanka had met women cocoa farmers who received support from a $2-million USAID-funded project. She’d also announced a USAID-backed loan for a women-owned coffee business in Ethiopia during this trip.
What is Trump doing with USAID?
Trump had recently ordered over 2,000 of the agency’s workers to be put on paid leave, which was blocked by a judge hours before the decision was set to take effect.
Hours after taking office on January 20, he’d signed an order halting all foreign assistance until they were vetted and aligned with his “America First” policy. “USAID is driving the radical Left crazy…The corruption is at levels rarely seen before. Close it down!” Trump had posted.
Trump’s decision to shut down USAID also stems from his promise to slash government spending. The US spent $68 billon on international aid in 2023, with the agency’s budget constituting about half of it at around $40 billion, as per government data.
Trump also recently published a list of USAID project, calling them “waste and abuse”, which included a $1.5-million grant to an LGBTQ group in Serbia and a $2.5-million grant for EVs in Vietnam.
Summary: Donald Trump is working to dismantle USAID, despite his wife Melania and daughter Ivanka previously advocating for the agency’s initiatives.