Jan. 24 (UPI) — The Trump administration has suspended all existing foreign aid for 90 days pending review with exceptions for Israel and Egypt, according to a State Department cable leaked on Friday.
The cable, authored by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and sent to all U.S. diplomatic and consular posts around the world, was obtained by multiple media outlets.
The new guidance expands on an executive order issued by Trump following his inauguration blocking all “new obligations and disbursements” of foreign aid to countries, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors for 90 days pending review.
The new guidance orders all State Department personnel to “ensure that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, no new obligations shall be made for foreign assistance” until the administration can carry out a review over the upcoming 85 days.
Exceptions are made for “foreign military financing” for Egypt and Israel, the countries bordering the Gaza Strip, where a cease-fire is currently in effect following the devastating war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
No such exception, however, is made for Ukraine, which could mean the country will receive nothing further from the Trump administration over the next three months as it battles against Russia’s invasion.
The guidance appears to put into limbo all international aid flowing through the U.S. Agency for International Development, which sends billions of dollars and to countries around the world. The agency, which distributed more than $70B during fiscal year 2022, is now barred from publishing proposals for new foreign aid projects for 90 days under the instructions.
Rubio also orders that any foreign aid sent through any State Department agency or office be approved personally by him.
The guidance sparked fears that a U.S.-funded program to provide life-saving anti-HIV drugs to tens of millions of people in 55 countries would be endangered.
“You’re playing politics with people’s lives,” Duke University public health researcher Jirair Ratevosian told Science Magazine, referring to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which is funded by USAID.
“People could stop going to work, and clinics could get shut down, presumably, if there’s no one there to turn the lights on,” he said. “If you’re halting existing programs, that’s playing with fire as it relates to the HIV program: You stop HIV treatment that leads to drug resistance, and drug resistance elsewhere impacts drug resistance in the United States.”