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Depending on your perspective, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has either been a full-throated backer of USAID’s dismantling, or he was bulldozed by an “America First” administration — or he’s somewhere in between. We examine the varying perspectives and lingering questions.
Also in today’s edition: We break down where U.S. food aid stands, and Gates invests in Africa’s artificial intelligence potential.
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Rubio-x cube
The signs, from an establishment perspective, were good: Republican Sen. Marco Rubio was a safe, stable choice to lead the State Department. Unlike some of U.S. President Donald Trump’s other Cabinet picks, Rubio was a known quantity. He was so known, in fact, that his nomination sailed through the Senate by a vote of 99-0.
Then, he became virtually unrecognizable to the aid community that once saw him as a fairly dependable ally.
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“Rubio threw in the towel on USAID,” says one recently terminated humanitarian staffer at the agency. “It’s clear he wasn’t consulted on any of these decisions being made, and he still seems entirely out of the loop with neither the personal nor political will to intervene.”
Others take a more nuanced view, Christine Ro writes for Devex. “Once you’re secretary of state, you serve at the pleasure of the president,” says Doug Anderson, former general counsel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and now senior director of U.S. government relations at the ONE Campaign.
“Some of Secretary Rubio's own stated new emphases are very welcome, for example, approaching foreign partners as real partners, rather than presumptuously dictating to them as outsiders what we think their assistance needs are, is a welcome shift in emphasis,” he adds.
However, Anderson says, the challenge “has been reconciling Secretary Rubio's aspirational statements with the fairly disruptive reality of what's often happening on the ground.”
And even though the administration has laid out plans for merging USAID into the State Department, it remains to be seen if the disruption will settle down — or how much Rubio will take the reins of the massive transition ahead.
For his part, Rubio has been clear that something needed to change.
“Foreign aid is the least popular thing government spends money on,” Rubio said during a trip to Guatemala early in his tenure. “I spent a lot of time in my career defending it and explaining it, but it’s harder and harder to do across the board — it really is.”
But he added: “The United States is not walking away from foreign aid. It’s not. We’re going to continue to provide foreign aid and to be involved in programs, but it has to be programs that we can defend. It has to be programs that we can explain.”
Read: What part is Marco Rubio actually playing in USAID's dismantling?
Cut to the bone
One area that Rubio has consistently said would be (largely) spared is lifesaving aid such as emergency food assistance. But like the man, the picture is nuanced.
My colleague Ayenat Mersie reviewed the data to assess the implications for emergency food aid, nutrition, food systems, and agriculture programming more broadly. The result offers a snapshot of some of the organizations most affected by the terminations, grouped into three categories: multilateral institutions, NGOs, and contractors. But given the inconsistencies and gaps in the leaked data, the aim is not to provide an exhaustive accounting, but rather to offer a look at where the cuts have landed hardest.
For example, programs linked to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWS NET, appeared on both the terminated and retained lists, making its future unclear. And the World Food Programme was both among the most impacted by USAID’s terminations and among those with the most funding preserved — a reflection of its size as one of USAID’s largest implementing partners.
Read: Which USAID-funded food and agriculture programs were cut? Which remain? (Pro)
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He’s got the Pete
One of the reasons Rubio has been dogged by questions over his influence is Peter Marocco, the Trump appointee who was given a great deal of latitude to dissolve USAID.
Marocco wasted no time gutting programs — sometimes in dramatic fashion.
We’ve documented the confrontations Marocco and his team have had while trying to shut down small organizations such as the U.S. African Development Foundation, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the Inter-American Foundation.
On the latter, the Trump administration installed Marocco as IAF’s acting board chair — removing other board members. Marocco appointed himself as acting president and CEO of IAF, and acting president and CEO, Sara Aviel, was fired.
Marocco then got rid of everybody save for one employee.
But while the demise of IAF seemed like a fait accompli, a federal judge had other plans, temporarily blocking the dismantling of the IAF through a preliminary injunction on Friday.
The ruling reinstates Aviel and voids actions taken by Marocco, including the termination of IAF’s grants and firing of its staff. But the ruling is only temporary, and on Sunday, the Trump administration requested a stay of the court order pending appeal.
Aviel, who has served as IAF’s leader since 2022 and is the plaintiff in the case, tells my colleague Sara Jerving that the foundation has a talented team, institutional expertise, and deep relationships with communities. “We’re focused on the future, digging in, and getting our cost-effective investments back on track for America.”
Read: Judge blocks Trump admin's dismantling of Inter-American Foundation
Scaling Gates
The Gates Foundation signed a three-year, $7.5 million partnership to scale artificial intelligence innovations in Rwanda, on the sidelines of the recent Global AI Summit on Africa.
While the injection of money is welcome, it’s a far cry from what’s needed, Devex contributor Anthony Langat writes.. In the second quarter of 2024, for instance, the continent only attracted $4 million out of the $23.2 billion raised by global AI startups.
Still, the Gates investment could just be the beginning. Trevor Mundel, president of global health at the foundation, says it plans to sign three other partnerships across the continent in the next few months to establish hubs in Nigeria, Kenya, and Senegal with the aim of breaking down barriers “to scale and help move promising AI innovation to impact.”
Read: Gates Foundation to fund AI scaling hubs in Africa
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AI for all
Ahead of the Global AI Summit on Africa last week, Rose Kimu, a Mastercard Foundation scholar at Carnegie Mellon University Africa, urged leaders to invest in young women like herself so that Africa can benefit from the AI revolution.
“My journey — from an overcrowded public school where I was one of nearly 100 students sharing a single classroom, to conducting advanced AI research at a prestigious university — has given me a unique insight into both the privilege and systemic barriers facing many young Africans,” she wrote in an opinion piece for Devex, outlining ways to break down those barriers, from mentorship programs to stronger AI governance.
“Africa stands at a defining moment,” she wrote. “With the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population, we have an opportunity to leverage artificial intelligence for economic growth, job creation, and social progress.”
Opinion: Africa's AI future hinges on youth investment
In other news
U.S. Catholic bishops ended a century-old refugee resettlement program after “drastic” funding cuts by the Trump administration, halting services for refugees and undocumented children. [The Washington Post]
Haiti faces a worsening humanitarian crisis as gangs overwhelm security forces, already displacing over 78,500 people since the start of the year,according to Save the Children. [Reuters]
Médecins Sans Frontiéres reported the first cases of child malnutrition in Greece’s migrant facility, urging immediate action after finding six Syrian and Afghan children needing urgent care. [Al Jazeera]
Update, April 9, 2025: This article has been updated to clarify that the Trump administration installed Peter Marocco as IAF’s acting board chair.
About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
