In the western hemisphere, the document says, US$400 million would support activities to end illegal immigration to the US, counter China’s dominance in critical minerals and artificial intelligence and “confront the Marxist, anti-American regimes of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.”
USAID DISMANTLED
Since January, the administration has dismantled the US Agency for International Development, frozen and then slashed billions of dollars of foreign aid, saying it wants to ensure US taxpayer money goes only to programs aligned with Trump’s “America First” policies.
The cutbacks effectively shut down USAID, leading to the firing of thousands of its employees and contractors. That jeopardised the delivery of life-saving food and medical aid and has thrown global humanitarian relief operations into chaos.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the plan outlined in the notification subverted Congress’ power, which is outlined in the Constitution to control how government money is spent.
“Funding politically driven, unaccountable, pet projects in place like Greenland or using aid to pressure African governments on immigration is out of step with America’s foreign policy interests and an abuse of Americans’ tax dollars,” she said in a statement.
Aides to Senator Jim Risch, the committee’s Republican chairman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In July, as he marked the formal transfer of USAID to the State Department as part of Trump’s unprecedented push to shrink the federal government, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was abandoning what he called a charity-based model and would focus on empowering countries to grow sustainably.
Foreign aid traditionally has accounted for only about 1 percent of the federal budget.
