The United States freezes all American foreign aid except in Egypt and Israel

A big break before, perhaps to resume. The United States has frozen its foreign aid, with the exception of that provided to Egypt and Israel, as well as emergency food aid, the time of a complete review to see if it is in conformity with politics What does Donald Trump lead.

“No new funds will be engaged (…) as long as each new award or extension proposed has not been examined and approved” in accordance with the program of the republican billionaire, indicates an internal circular of the American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, sent to the staff of the State Department and consulted Friday by AFP.

The circular stems from the decree signed by President Trump on Monday, from the day of his inauguration, ordering to freeze foreign aid in the United States for 90 days. Concretely, the presidential decree orders a break of almost three months in the help of the United States in order to assess “the effectiveness of the programs and their coherence with the foreign policy” of Washington. The Marco Rubio circular authorizes the State Department to make other exceptions on a case -by -case basis.

NGOs worry

In his note, the Secretary of State argues that it is impossible for the new administration to assess whether the existing commitments in terms of foreign aid “are not duplicating, are effective and are in accordance with the foreign policy of the foreign policy President Trump ”.

The latter had assured in his decree on Monday that “the industry and bureaucracy of foreign aid in the United States are not aligned with American interests and, in many cases, are contrary to American values”. He had not cited examples but worked, for example, upon his return to the White House to dismantle federal diversity promotion programs in the United States.

Marco Rubio, who is the first – and still the only one – member of the new Trump government to have come into office on Tuesday, sent other internal memos in the same vein, notably freezing the reception of refugees awaiting asylum in the United States. He said he wanted to implement Donald Trump’s slogan -“America first” -stressing that each dollar spent by the United States will have to make America “safer”, “stronger”, and ” more prosperous ”.

According to official figures, the United States is the main provider of humanitarian aid and development worldwide, devoting around 1 % of the federal government’s budget, which the former Democratic president Joe Biden welcomed. The latter had asked for the fiscal year 2025 (October to September) some $ 42.8 billion to finance foreign aid managed by the State Department and the American Development Agency (USAID).

Several NGOs have been alarmed by the impact of the frost decided by the Trump administration, in particular concerning humanitarian aid and development. “The suspension of humanitarian aid causes uncertainty to all American humanitarian aid and development programs, which prevents professionals from planning or acting effectively,” deplored the leader of Oxfam America, Abby Maxman, in a press release. According to her, this break “could have vital consequences for countless children and families in crisis”.