Return to Trumpworld: Who will shape US aid policy?

As U.S. President-elect Donald Trump fills out his Cabinet with loyalists, firebrands, and provocateurs, the U.S. government’s foreign assistance community is rife with speculation about whom he will pick to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development. While USAID’s top job is always closely watched, in Trump’s second presidential transition it seems to carry almost existential weight. Will Trump choose someone invested in U.S. global development leadership and politically savvy enough to make a case for its value? Or will he hand USAID’s keys to a disrupter with a mandate to dismantle the agency and free up funds for other priorities? And of course, since this is the Trump administration we’re talking about, there is always the possibility for something totally unpredictable. Trump has already named a few top officials who will have influence over aid-related decisions from key foreign policy posts. And while many are jockeying to land USAID’s big job, that is not the only role for global development influencers in a new administration. Trump will eventually name new heads of the International Development Finance Corporation, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and other foreign assistance agencies — while other appointees work behind the scenes to remake foreign assistance for the "Make America Great Again," or MAGA, era. And where does Elon Musk fit into all this? Based on numerous conversations with foreign aid insiders — and months of reporting on conservative aid plans prior to the election — here are some of the people who could shape U.S. foreign aid policy when Trump returns to the White House in January. Read the rest of the list here.