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Just before Donald Trump took office, USAID staff were directed to halt public communications about their work. The pause coincides with his executive order for a 90-day foreign aid review, but with programs under scrutiny, USAID and its partners are left in cautious limbo.
Also in today’s edition: Uncertainty around Trump’s aid freeze, name change at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, MacKenzie Scott is busy doling out money again, and what Trump’s U.N. ambassador pick has to say.
Mute button
Just before Trump’s inauguration, some USAID staff members got a memo: Stop talking. An email obtained by Devex Senior Reporter Sara Jerving revealed “clear guidance” from Washington to pause all public communications about their work starting Jan. 20.
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What’s unclear? Whether the directive applies just to USAID employees or also to the independent organizations they work with. USAID hasn’t commented — well, they were told not to! — leaving partners guessing and playing it safe to avoid potential fallout with the new leadership.
For now, USAID partners are holding their breath, and their tweets, as they navigate this new era of tight-lipped caution and domestic focus.
Scoop: USAID employees told to “pause" public partner communications
Reading the T(RUMP) leaves
Trump also — as you know — hit pause on U.S. foreign aid, with a 90-day freeze to review what stays and what goes. The executive order seems to paint the aid system as a “political and cultural battleground,” writes my colleague Michael Igoe, one riddled with progressive policies at odds with American values.
Although widely expected, the pause and heavy hand that signed the order shocked the U.S. development sector, with USAID staffers, contractors, and advocacy groups scrambling to decode its implications. USAID, which manages a $40 billion annual budget, is now navigating legal and logistical uncertainties. Some speculate that uncommitted funds could be reclaimed for other uses, a process that might sidestep Congress.
“This is a really big moment of uncertainty for U.S. foreign aid,” says Walter Kerr, co-executive director of the aid reform coalition Unlock Aid.
The impact of the pause hinges on whether the Trump administration uses it to selectively target a handful of programs it opposes or embark on a sweeping overhaul of the entire foreign assistance portfolio, George Ingram, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, tells Michael.
“If it’s a quick review focused on their priorities, like family planning and climate change, then it’s going to have an impact on a particular subset of what USAID does,” Ingram says. But a full-blown review of the “complicated, multilayered beast” that is USAID, would take “a lot of people more than three months to do.”
One person who could be involved in the review process is Peter Marocco, a former USAID official who multiple sources tell Devex has been chosen to be director of the Office of Foreign Assistance at the State Department. Marocco made headlines during the first Trump administration for trying to restructure and eliminate programs — and sparring with career staff, Michael writes.
Michael also has the scoop on a few other USAID appointments Trump has made: Matt Hopson as chief of staff, Joel Borkert as deputy chief of staff, and Meghan Hanson as director of policy.
Read: Trump's foreign assistance freeze generates uncertainty and confusion
+ Trump halted foreign aid for 90 days. What happens now? Experts analyze the impact of this decision and what's to come in his first 100 days. Join the discussion today at 12:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CET).
Path of Elise resistance
Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York and Trump’s U.N. ambassador pick, championed UNICEF and the World Food Programme as vital to U.S. security. “When it comes to those key questions: does it make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous, I believe those are examples of programs that do,” she said at her Senate confirmation hearing.
Stefanik also took aim at agencies such as UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, and the World Health Organization, accusing them of failing their missions. She also emphasized standing with Israel and vowing to bolster Taiwan’s role in the U.N. to help counter China’s growing influence, my colleague Colum Lynch reports.
Stefanik suggested agencies such as WFP and UNICEF could step into UNRWA’s shoes in Gaza, despite aid groups arguing for its critical importance in the region.
Read: Trump's UN pick pinpoints agencies to support — and to walk away from
What’s in a name?
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is no more. Well, the name is no more; the money is still flowing.
The name is now simply the Gates Foundation — complete with a new black-and-yellow logo. The dropping of “Bill & Melinda” comes after the founding couple’s split back in 2021, Devex Pro Editor Jessica Abrahams writes. Melinda French Gates then walked away as co-chair of the foundation last year to embark on her own philanthropic endeavor, known as Pivotal Ventures.
At the same time, the foundation announced a record budget for 2025, at $8.74 billion. It represents a relatively modest increase on the year before, at less than 2% growth, but it’s a third up on its 2021 budget. In 2022, the foundation set a goal to distribute $9 billion annually by 2026 and has been steadily ratcheting up its spending since.
Read: Gates Foundation announces rebrand and record budget (Pro)
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Scott-free
Another marquee philanthropist has been busy giving away her own billions — $2 billion in 2024 to be exact.
MacKenzie Scott, who shook up the world of philanthropy with her large-scale, no-strings-attached giving, has vowed to donate most of her wealth to charitable causes. She’s doing a great job so far — the size of her giving is already record-breaking on its own.
But Scott is notable beyond her lavish giving spree and trust-based approach. Unlike other private donors, Scott does not release formal grant notices. Instead, her team and advisers search for organizations working in areas aligned with her values. They then reach out and give them grants that they are free to use however they see fit.
Based on her website Yield Giving, Scott has given over $19 billion to more than 2,450 nonprofits since she started her philanthropic crusade.
My colleague Miguel Antonio Tamonan dug into the data to see where exactly funding has landed.
Read: How did MacKenzie Scott spend $2 billion in grants in 2024? (Pro)
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In other news
Aid convoys in Gaza have not been looted since the implementation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the U.N. reported. [Al Arabiya]
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban called for increased donor support for education during his visit to Aleppo, Syria, where caravans are being used as makeshift classrooms for students. [Reuters]
More than half of all people killed by terrorism worldwide are in sub-Saharan Africa, prompting U.N. official Amina Mohammed to call for urgent international action during a U.N. Security Council meeting. [UN News]
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About the author
Helen Murphy
Helen is an award-winning journalist and Senior Editor at Devex, where she edits coverage on global development in the Americas. Based in Colombia, she previously covered war, politics, financial markets, and general news for Reuters, where she headed the bureau, and for Bloomberg in Colombia and Argentina, where she witnessed the financial meltdown. She started her career in London as a reporter for Euromoney Publications before moving to Hong Kong to work for a daily newspaper.
