Devex Pro Insider: What’s up with Trump lately? And ‘HOLD THE DOOR’ for women

I’ve been thinking about the Trump administration lately — well, assuming you count “lately” as just about every minute for the better part of a decade. But lately, while the world’s attention has been justifiably transfixed on the Middle East, there have been some quiet but interesting moves related to the administration’s development approach. A year after U.S. President Donald Trump took a wrecking ball to USAID (I got tired of saying wood chipper), we find ourselves in a still-uncertain but deeply intriguing era of U.S. foreign assistance — with winners and losers emerging every week. NGOs have largely found themselves on the losing end of Trump's return to power. That streak includes the bilateral health compacts that the State Department has signed with a slew of countries — agreements largely predicated on government-to-government cooperation. But, but, but … a low-key twist to the “America First” health strategy has piqued the hopes of NGOs — though those hopes are tempered by Trump’s penchant for wild policy swings. Still, a new funding platform launched by the State Department could create an opening for sidelined NGOs to participate in Trump’s health strategy. The $4.5 billion program called “Advancing Global Health” anticipates awards for up to 100 projects and, crucially, invites INGOs, local NGOs, faith-based organizations, companies, universities, and government entities to apply. My colleague Sara Jerving has the details. Is it a sign that the administration is realizing that government-to-government engagement has its limits and that NGOs can, in fact, play a valuable role? We’ll see. In the meantime, check out a report by the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network on the pros and cons of G2G assistance. Another quiet winner? The Inter-American Development Bank, which at its annual meetings got official word that the Trump administration would pay its share of a major capital increase announced two years ago, as scooped by my colleague Jesse Chase-Lubitz. While Jesse was navigating the IDB meetings in Paraguay, Devex reporter Elissa Miolene was in New York for another major gathering: the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women. There, the Trump administration found itself on the losing end while multilateralism relished a rare victory. And “relish” is the right word. Applause, cheers, and even tears of joy accompanied a successful vote to slap down the Trump team’s efforts to alter a critical document on the rights of women and girls. But the showdown at the U.N. was meek compared to comedian John Oliver’s smackdown of the administration’s decision to dismantle USAID. The TV host tore a cast of Trump-world characters to satirical shreds in a monologue likely met with satisfaction among legions of former USAID-ers, though I imagine it was tinged with sadness because no monologue will bring their agency back. So how did the administration feel about it? Your guess is as good as mine. Anger, ambivalence, perhaps satisfaction as well. Regardless, the warring emotions of Trump 2.0 won’t let up any time soon, if ever. Bits and pieces Hold on. Anyone who’s seen “Game of Thrones” — the brutal, addicting drama that follows medieval families fighting for power — will recognize the term “hold the door.” They were the final words of a stable boy who sacrificed himself to protect his friends (yes, by holding a door), and overnight, they became synonymous with loyalty and courage. Well, about 10 years after that episode aired, a coordinator at the Brazilian human rights organization Gestos used the same term to describe efforts at the Commission on the Status of Women, Elissa told me. “HOLD THE DOOR!” said Juliana Cesar, speaking at the U.N. headquarters. “Like ‘Game of Thrones,’ that’s what we’re trying to do.” It was a theme that came up repeatedly at CSW, and not just through anecdotes as colorful as Cesar’s. As mentioned above, CSW member states voted on a political declaration for women and girls that, after intense U.S. pushback, many felt was a victory. But even so, most agreed the declaration didn’t actually push anything forward — it simply held the door. “The Commission on the Status of Women, at this point, is one of the most popular events on the U.N. calendar each year,” said Jessica Stern, who served as the special envoy to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons during the Biden administration. “But it is one of the forums where we achieve the least progress in the outcome document. And at this point, we basically negotiate every year just to hold the line.” ‘Crushed it.’ Change, of course, can be good. For Open Philanthropy, it’s apparently been great. Now renamed Coefficient Giving, the philanthropic adviser and funder directed over $1 billion in 2025, the most in its history. “In 2025, we set out to lay the groundwork for giving at a greater scale, and — as I told our team at an all-hands recently — I honestly think we crushed it,” wrote CEO Alexander Berger in his annual letter. Among the achievements: Coefficient Giving increased total giving by over 50%; onboarded an “almost totally new” leadership team; and launched two new funds. So what’s next? “Our goals for 2026 are even bigger. We aim to significantly scale our funding again, drive more proactive and ambitious grantmaking to help fill the most important gaps we see, and prepare for even larger growth in 2027 and 2028,” Berger wrote, adding: “We want to scale thoughtfully, growing a lot without losing our ability to make big decisions quickly, becoming too bureaucratic to pivot when new opportunities arise, or losing our willingness to bet on neglected (and sometimes weird) topics.” All in the family. Another philanthropy, the Segal Family Foundation, is also celebrating some good news. It recently won the Council on Foundations’ Scrivner Award, honoring innovative grantmaking organizations. Segal is the second-largest U.S. grantmaker in sub-Saharan Africa, funding a portfolio of over 300 organizations, 96% of which are African-led. All of its grantee partners receive unrestricted grants, most on a long-term basis. Scott, still great. Speaking of innovative philanthropists, MacKenzie Scott tops many people’s lists — especially those on the receiving end of her often-out-of-nowhere generosity. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting look at those surprised grantees, such as UNCF, formerly United Negro College Fund, which has received two gifts from Scott totaling $80 million. UNCF CEO Michael L. Lomax talked about the rise of data-driven, return-on-investment philanthropy. “And then you have somebody like MacKenzie Scott saying, we’re in this together, we trust you and we trust your judgment,” he told WSJ. “She’s rewriting American philanthropy.” And she’s rewriting it with enormous checks. Since 2019, Scott has given away more than $26 billion, making her one of the most generous philanthropists alive. Disaster preparedness. The prevailing narrative about the U.S. foreign assistance cuts is that Africa would be hard hit. It was. But was it the catastrophe many predicted? Landry Signé, professor and executive director at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, argues African countries have been far more resilient than they get credit for. Granted, it’s a nuanced picture. Some countries, such as Malawi, have struggled to replace U.S. funding. But others, such as Ghana, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, “acted quickly to blunt the impact of U.S. aid cuts,” he writes in Foreign Affairs. In fact, the International Monetary Fund projects that 11 of the world’s 15 fastest-growing economies in 2026 will be in Africa, making it the fastest-growing region in the world. “As the global economic order fragments, many African economies are well positioned to weather the storm,” Signé writes. “If policymakers recognized this variation, rather than treating Africa as a single risk category, they would concentrate their engagement with the continent’s most structurally resilient economies while tailoring their support to the others by investing in institutional capacity where governance is weak and in ways to reduce external exposure where institutions are strong.” Getaway Carl. Many of Trump’s lower-profile political nominees have sailed through a Republican-led Congress, but for one, his incendiary comments on race and religion proved too much. Jeremy Carl was nominated to serve as assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs in June. But this month, his past remarks about “anti-white racism” and the importance of protecting “white identity” in American culture came back to haunt him. After a contentious hearing, Carl withdrew his candidacy. On social media, he thanked the administration for nominating him and praised the White House for being willing not “to simply pick nominees from the same stable of ‘business as usual’ possibilities” for the role. Hearing aid. Want more fiery hearings? You may get your wish — or you could get hours of bureaucratic tedium — on Tuesday if you tune into the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ hearing on “Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Foreign Assistance: Lessons Learned and Charting a Path Forward.” It will feature testimony from Adam Kaplan, deputy inspector general of the USAID Office of the Inspector General (yes, one still exists); Latesha Love-Grayer, director of international affairs and trade at the Government Accountability Office; and Joseph Windrem, former director of the Lessons Learned Program in the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Snake house. A matter-of-fact though still-alarming message went out to U.N. staff in Nairobi giving them a heads up about an unwanted guest at a ground-floor entrance: a snake. The advice on what to do if you spot one? Leave it alone. Most snakes on the compound, it noted, are harmless and nonvenomous. Not sure how reassuring that “most” part is. Moving on After 13 years, Adam Aspinall is leaving Medicines for Malaria Venture to join Unitaid. Maria Bellocci has been appointed chief operating officer of the Science for Africa Foundation. Eric Bergthold has joined the Cambodian Children’s Fund as head of U.S. operations and development. Robert Bertram is joining the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ global food and water security program as a nonresident senior associate. Bertram served as chief scientist for food security at USAID from 2014 to 2025, where he led agricultural and food systems research under the Feed the Future initiative Qian Cheng has joined the Green Climate Fund as an environmental and social policy specialist. Sekai Chiwandamira has joined the Mastercard Foundation as head of the Innovations Lab. Elinore Court has become senior manager of digital engagement at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Mariana Dahan has taken on a senior adviser role on digital and AI at the World Bank Group. The move builds on over two decades of work advancing digital identity, financial inclusion, and emerging technologies across public and private sectors. Professor Abdoulaye Djimde of the Science for Africa Foundation has been appointed to the U.N. Scientific Advisory Board. After 13 years as a State Department diplomat, 10 years at the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and 13 years with the Professional Services Council, Paul Foldi is starting a new position as founder of the consulting firm JIB Solutions. Aman Garg has joined the International Finance Corporation’s India office as senior country officer. He was previously the director of the Department of Economic Affairs at India’s Ministry of Finance. Abdul Jabbar Ghayoor has become the new chief financial officer for Save the Children US. Prior to joining Save the Children US, Ghayoor held senior leadership roles, including as vice president of finance and risk management at The Bridgespan Group, as well as posts at the Trevor Project, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, Global Communities, and Chemonics International in Asia, the Middle East, and West Africa. Ginisha Gupta has joined the Gates Foundation’s New Delhi office under the New Vaccine Introduction Portfolio. She previously worked at UNICEF and the Clinton Global Health Initiative. Dr. Gary Jahn has joined CGIAR as head of the CGIAR Liaison Office for Asia and the Pacific. He brings more than 30 years of experience in agricultural development, including nearly 15 years with the International Rice Research Institute, working across Asia. Kenya’s national security adviser, Monica Juma, is taking on the dual roles of executive director of UNDOC and director-general of the U.N. Office at Vienna. Evalin K. Karijo has joined Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage as head of international policy and advocacy. Josiane Khoury has joined UNICEF’s Syria country office to lead partnerships and resource mobilization in support of an enhanced response for children. Omer Njajou has started a new position as senior global health security adviser at the State Department’s LEAP Global program in Cameroon. Charles Yesolitis has become a contractor with Tuvli, supporting the State Department on the planning and management of foreign assistance in the security sector, initially focused on International Narcotics and Law Enforcement programs. “While I am beyond thrilled to be employed once again, it is not lost on me that I start this position nearly exactly a year after losing my career with USAID, nor that I am officially part of the ‘hire back’ community of contractors,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “The excitement for this new chapter is balanced with a deep care and hope for my remaining unemployed colleagues to find their next mission.” Dr. Tombari Zabbeh has started a new position as health specialist in the Digital Learning and Capacity Building at UNICEF headquarters. Coming up The 2026 Global Philanthropy Leaders Summit will be held from March 18 to 20 in San Francisco, California. Each year, more than 250 executives — representing over $480 billion in charitable assets — come together to exchange ideas, collaborate across boundaries, and advance the future of the field. My colleague Catherine Cheney will be on the ground. If you want to reach her, drop her a line at catherine.cheney@devex.com. Job of the week Your Devex Pro membership includes access to the world’s largest global development job board. Here’s the latest opportunity: director of corporate engagement at the Sustainable Agriculture Network. Search for more opportunities.