The United States has dramatically cut the budgets of overseas development and aid programs, with multi-year contracts pared down by 92 per cent, or $54 billion, the State Department said Wednesday.
On his first day in office, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding a freeze on all US foreign aid for 90 days.
The pause aimed to allow the administration to review overseas spending with an eye to gutting programs not aligned with Trump’s “America First” agenda.
The review in part targeted multi-year foreign assistance contracts awarded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with the vast majority eliminated during its course.
“At the conclusion of a process led by USAID leadership, including tranches personally reviewed by Secretary (Marco) Rubio, nearly 5,800 awards with $54 billion in value remaining were identified for elimination as part of the America First agenda – a 92 per cent reduction,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.