WASHINGTON: The Trump administration urged US Agency for International Development (USAID) workers to join the effort to transform how Washington allocates aid around the world in line with Trump’s “America First” policy. It threatened “disciplinary action” for any staff ignoring the administration’s orders.
A sharply-worded memo sent on Saturday (Jan 25) to more than 10,000 staff at USAID offered further guidance to Friday’s “stop-work” directive that effectively put a sweeping freeze on US foreign aid worldwide. The memo, reviewed by Reuters, laid out expectations for the workforce on how to achieve Trump’s goals.
“We have a responsibility to support the President in achieving his vision,” Ken Jackson, assistant to the administrator for management and resources wrote in the internal memo, titled “Message and Expectation to the Workforce.”
“The President has given us a tremendous opportunity to transform the way we approach foreign assistance for decades to come,” the memo said. Reuters confirmed the authenticity of the memo with several sources.
Since taking office last week, Trump has taken steps toward fulfilling his vow to remake a federal bureaucracy he believes was hostile to him during his 2017-2021 presidency. He has reassigned or fired hundreds of federal workers in simultaneous moves against a swath of agencies.
Hours after taking office, Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign aid to review if it was aligned with his foreign policy priorities. On Friday, the State Department issued a stop-work order worldwide even for existing and appropriated assistance, calling into question billions of dollars of life-saving aid.
The United States is the largest single donor of aid globally. In fiscal year 2023, it disbursed US$72 billion in assistance. It provided 42 per cent of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.
USAID and the White House National Security Council (NSC) did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
