During his first term in office, U.S. President Donald Trump was hardly a champion for U.S. foreign assistance programs. His administration repeatedly proposed major cuts to aid spending, withdrew the U.S. government from international organizations and agreements, and used aid cuts to extract concessions from other governments.
But the first Trump White House also did not banish the U.S. Agency for International Development from its foreign policy toolkit. Rather, on a number of fronts — from international religious freedom, to women’s economic empowerment, to trade — Trump’s team channeled its international priorities through the bilateral aid agency.
Trump’s second term has been a different story, showcasing an “America First” agenda that has been unrestrained by past precedent or institutional norms. The administration’s decision to freeze, cut, and eliminate USAID has been among the most vivid examples. While members and allies of Trump’s current administration say they did so because of the agency’s supposedly “woke” progressive agenda, they are also throwing the fate of Trump’s own foreign aid legacy achievements into doubt.