After Trump orders a review, the US imposes a sweeping freeze on foreign aid

President Donald Trump ordered a suspension to examine whether aid disbursement was in line with his foreign policy, and the U.S. State Department issued a “stop-work” order for all current foreign assistance on Friday and delayed new aid, according to a cable obtained by Reuters.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio authorized the cable, which was sent by the Department’s foreign assistance division and said that Israel and Egypt had been granted exemptions for military funding. In the cable, no other nations were mentioned.

The action might result in the loss of billions of dollars in life-saving aid. In fiscal year 2023, the United States disbursed $72 billion in aid, making it the greatest single giver in the world.

Trump issued an order just hours after taking office on Monday to halt international development aid for 90 days while he reviewed its effectiveness and alignment with his foreign policy. The directive’s exact breadth was not immediately clear.

According to the State Department cable, top officials “shall ensure that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, no new obligations shall be made for foreign assistance” until Rubio has made a decision following a review. This directive will take effect immediately.

It states that stop-work orders must be issued for current foreign aid awards right now while Rubio reviews them.

“This is lunacy,” stated Jeremy Konyndyk, the head of Refugees International and a former USAID member. “This will cause fatalities. I mean, many people will perish if it is carried out as that cable states.

“It is impossible to see this as an honest attempt to evaluate the efficacy of foreign aid initiatives. To break as much as possible, this is just a wrecking ball,” Konyndyk stated.

Trump’s order is illegal, according to a person who was acquainted with the ongoing debate in Congress.

“Freezing these international investments will lead our international partners to seek other funding partners – likely U.S. competitors and adversaries – to fill this hole and displace the United States’ influence the longer this unlawful impoundment continues,” a source who wishes to remain anonymous said.

Waivers

According to a USAID official who asked to remain anonymous, personnel in charge of initiatives in Ukraine have been instructed to cease all activity. According to the official, educational support and health assistance, such as emergency maternity care and kid vaccines, are among the programs that have been put on hold.

In all cases, Rubio will make “decisions whether to continue, modify, or terminate programs” after reviews over the next eighty-five days. Rubio can authorize waivers in the interim.

According to the cable, Rubio has waived emergency food aid. Several other hunger crises throughout the world, particularly in Sudan, are occurring at the same time as a flood of humanitarian supplies enters the Gaza Strip following the start of a truce between Israel and Palestinian terrorists Hamas on Sunday.

Emergency food aid is only a small portion of all humanitarian help, Konyndyk said, adding that programs for health, nutrition, and immunizations must end, as must relief aid for Gaza and Syria and services for Sudanese refugee camps.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former senior official with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) declared, “It’s manufactured chaos.”

“Organizations will have to stop all activities, so all lifesaving health services, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, maternal and child health, all agriculture work, all support of civil society organizations, education,” according to the official.

The State Department letter also stated that Rubio has so far granted waivers for “foreign military financing for Israel and Egypt and administrative expenses, including salaries, necessary to administer foreign military financing.”

Egypt receives over $1.3 billion in foreign military funding yearly, compared to approximately $3.3 billion for Israel.

In 2025, the administration of former President Joe Biden requested Congress to identify additional states for such financing, including Ukraine, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Djibouti, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Israel, Egypt, and Jordan.

According to that proposal, foreign military funding would “also seek to bolster the Lebanese Armed Forces’ ability to mitigate instability and counter malign Iranian influence.” Ibid.

The Lebanese military is presently attempting to march into the country’s south as Israeli forces leave the region in accordance with a truce agreement that calls for the removal of Iran-backed Hezbollah militants and weaponry.