Devex Insider: Burger vans, BS, and blasting Rubio

The precipitous drop in foreign aid continues to reverberate across the globe. We’re continuing to break down the aftershocks in an ongoing series of briefings exclusively for Pro members — three of which took place last week, examining the story from the perspectives of Europe, the United Nations, and philanthropy. It’s easy to associate the aid crisis with U.S. President Donald Trump. After all, he basically wiped U.S. foreign assistance off the map. But across the Atlantic, Europe has been busy cutting and reshaping its own aid apparatus to benefit not just the recipient, but the donor as well. “We live in a pivotal moment in the history of international cooperation,” said Enabel CEO Jean Van Wetter at the first Pro briefing moderated by my colleague Jesse Chase-Lubitz. Van Wetter outlined his mantra for the sector’s future: resist and reinvent. “Resist the movement against what we believe and our values,” but also reinvent, “because the geopolitical context has changed.” Our American friends were a bit more colorful on a briefing call discussing the cost-cutting zeal at the United Nations in New York. “Everyone is going to be campaigning on how much they can shrink the U.N. and how tiny they can make it,” Richard Gowan, the U.N. director at the International Crisis Group, told my colleague Colum Lynch. “Now the question is: Who can run the international system out of a burger van on 44th Street? Because it’s pretty much all that is going to be left.” Ever more colorful was Kevin Starr, CEO of the Mulago Foundation, who hammered home the point that philanthropies need to embrace genuine impact and scale. If they did, “we couldn't bullshit ourselves about whether we're accomplishing something or not anymore. We’d have measures, and it'd be good for everybody. It's good for the funders, it's good for the doers, and it's good for the people who we're all trying to serve.” Coming up: We’re all over the 78th World Health Assembly this week with several days of programming and a cornucopia of coverage (sorry, I love using “cornucopia” whenever I can). Some 3,000 attendees will converge on Geneva for one of the biggest events in global health — including our own health team. Among the issues they'll be covering: the adoption of the pandemic treaty; the election of the new World Health Organization Africa regional director; WHO's quixotic quest for sustainable financing; the health impacts of U.S. foreign aid cuts; and noncommunicable diseases. Meanwhile, Devex CheckUp @ WHA78, our journalist-led summit, will highlight the solutions shaping the next era of global health. Among the topics: “the health system stress test,” “tech Rx: rebooting innovation,” and “the money and politics of global health.” Need to brush up on what’s what at WHA? Check out my colleague Jenny Lei Ravelo’s essential primer here, or our special edition of CheckUp here. Also in today’s edition: A U.S. senator rakes Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the coals, accusations and palace intrigue fly at the World Economic Forum, and food assistance fails to take off. Bits and pieces Who’s in charge? U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii who serves as ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of State and Foreign Operations, criticized President Trump during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. But he really didn’t hold back when it came to his onetime colleague, Marco Rubio, a busy guy who now wears the hats of secretary of state, USAID acting administrator, and national security adviser. “The world order that we've established, flawed as it is, and as episodically counterproductive as our actions have been, is far better than the alternative, but we now have a president and a secretary of state in Marco Rubio who are racing to shatter it. President Trump's narrow and transactional view of the world is not news to anybody. But what is genuinely surprising to me is that Secretary Rubio is aligning himself so closely with it,” Schatz said. “This is someone who, up until four months ago, was an internationalist, someone who believed in America flexing its powers in all manners, but especially through foreign assistance, and yet he is now responsible for the evisceration of the whole enterprise. He's a colleague. I voted for him. We talk all the time. But what I'm trying to understand is what happened. Has he suddenly changed his mind on all of this, or is someone else in charge?” Oof. On (La)Garde! The drama behind the scenes of the World Economic Forum keeps getting juicier (and don’t tell me you don’t like dirt on WEF’s annual Davos confab). Let’s start with the founder, Klaus Schwab, who for decades has been a revered figure in foreign policy circles. In 2024, an investigation by The Wall Street Journal exposed a toxic culture for women and Black employees. Then, in April, an audit committee recommended a probe into new whistleblower allegations of financial impropriety against Schwab and his wife, Hilde, according to WSJ, which has a great piece on “The Unraveling of the King of Davos.” Apparently, Schwab didn’t get the time-honored advice of never firing off an email when you’re angry. He reportedly wrote to the audit committee: “You have the opportunity to withdraw your note to the board in the next 24 hours with the specific regret to have put into question my reputation,” his email said. “To facilitate such a move, you could refer to the fact that I will file a criminal complaint.” “Yours sincerely,” he signed off. “Klaus.” But the wheels of WEF keep turning. Bloomberg is reporting that WEF is wooing European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde to take up Schwab’s mantle. She’d already been the top candidate, but Schwab’s bombshell exit sped up the timeline. The snag? Lagarde still has two years left as ECB president, and she’s vowed to serve out her term. Where does that leave WEF? We’ll keep you posted. G19? Another venerated annual gathering is the G20 summit, which this year will be hosted by South Africa in November under the theme of solidarity, equality, and sustainability. Except there’s not much solidarity with arguably the Group of 20’s most important member: the United States. That’s because President Trump, citing South Africa’s “genocide” of white Afrikaners, is skipping the summit. Not only that, the White House has barred any U.S. agencies from working with the G20. The snub and “genocide” accusation could spark fireworks (or a détente) when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visits with Trump this week. Coveted invite. Speaking of Africa and presidential visits, Judd Devermont — former National Security Council senior director for Africa — ranked 12 U.S. presidents on their Africa policies by specifically looking at the number of times they met with African leaders at the White House. At the top of the list? George W. Bush, who hosted an African counterpart every 33 days, according to Devermont’s calculations — not too surprising given that Bush is the brainchild behind the PEPFAR HIV/AIDS initiative. The list doesn’t show a particular partisan breakdown. Second on the list is Democrat John F. Kennedy, third is Republican George H.W. Bush, and fourth is Democrat Jimmy Carter. Last on the list? Trump. Progress denied. U.S. farmers continue to be swept up in Trump’s foreign aid cull. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reportedly nixed existing grants under its Food for Progress aid program, which buys and ships U.S. commodities for agricultural and economic development projects in poorer countries. It’s yet another blow for farmers, both in the U.S. and abroad. Trump's budget has proposed not only eliminating Food for Progress, but also the McGovern-Dole Food for Education program and the Food for Peace program, once administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Up in the air. The World Food Programme continues to take financial hits as well, thanks to the U.S. aid cuts. WFP chief Cindy McCain recently made a plea on LinkedIn to keep the agency’s United Nations Humanitarian Air Service, or UNHAS, planes and helicopters flying the skies over global hotspots such as Haiti in the face of severe budget constraints. She noted that UNHAS “makes the inaccessible accessible and ensures aid gets through when nothing else can.” But unless more funds or donations come in, the service could be grounded. In memoriam Joseph Nye — often called the godfather of soft power — died May 6 at the age of 88 in a hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Nye is best known for formulating the concept of “soft power,” which transformed how the U.S. and other nations approach global development and international aid. “By framing development assistance as a strategic tool of influence rather than mere charity, he helped legitimize and sustain support for international development work through changing political climates,” writes Devex contributor Rebecca Root. But the notion of soft power faces perhaps its biggest test in an era of Trumpian isolationism and global retrenchment. Still, his novel interpretation of power continues to command respect in foreign policy circles. An “incurable optimist,” Nye believed in “America’s better soul and not its dark soul,” and “that the forces of reason would eventually win in the struggle we’re seeing right now internally in the U.S.,” said Fen Osler Hampson, president of the World Refugee & Migration Council and a longtime friend of Nye who described him as an “above board, straight shooter” and said he was respected for his gracious yet direct approach. Moving on The World Bank has appointed Ndiamé Diop as its new vice president for eastern and southern Africa. In line with the World Bank's efforts to be closer to clients, Diop will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, where he will oversee a regional portfolio of almost 400 projects worth over $76 billion and a program of analytical work, technical assistance, and policy advice across 26 countries. British International Investment, or BII, the U.K.’s development finance institution, has appointed Shilpa Kumar as its managing director and head of India. “India is an important partner for BII and I look forward to furthering its vision of backing entrepreneurs and supporting transformative investments to drive sustainable and inclusive growth,” Kumar wrote on LinkedIn. The Ford Foundation has promoted Margaret Mliwa to serve as its regional director for East Africa. Mliwa joined the foundation in 2017 and has held roles as a program officer, senior program officer, and acting regional director. Meredith Ryder-Rude has been brought on to serve as associate vice president for global engagement and partnerships at the Environmental Defense Fund to direct the organization’s global advocacy. She previously led climate adaptation and loss and damage negotiations at the U.S. State Department. “Every moment matters to address climate change, but right now is a pivotal time for the global community,” she wrote in a press release. “Climate action is key to achieving the lasting economic growth and prosperity that companies, communities and nations are striving for.” Marcia Wong, former deputy assistant administrator of USAID’s humanitarian bureau, is starting a new position as a member of the board of trustees at CDAC Network, a global alliance of organizations working to ensure people can access safe, trustworthy information and communicate during crises. Mona Yacoubian is now senior adviser and director of the CSIS Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, having previously worked as vice president for the Middle East and North Africa at the U.S. Institute of Peace, which was effectively shut down by the Trump administration.