Over the past month, the Trump administration has justified its freeze of U.S. foreign aid and the dismantling of USAID with some misleading claims about how taxpayer money is spent.
Trump insists that USAID has operated with little or no oversight for decades, alleging that the agency has funneled “massive sums” into “ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats.” But the reality is quite different, and USAID, while the largest provider of foreign aid globally, accounts for less than 1% of total U.S. spending.
So, what’s really going on? We’re adding nuance to some of the administration’s claims and separating fact from fiction.