Since being sworn in as United States president on Jan. 20, Donald Trump has left global development professionals scrambling to digest a flurry of decisions that are quickly impacting the sector.
His unprecedented orders to freeze U.S. foreign aid and withdraw from the World Health Organization quickly led to stop-work orders and hiring freezes. Since then, USAID has been effectively shuttered, tens of thousands of people have been laid off, and thousands of contracts have been canceled.
Here, Devex is tracking the impact on development as the new U.S. administration continues its efforts to realign government policies and priorities with Trump’s “America First” agenda.
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This article was last updated on 24 June 2025
About the authors
Justin Sablich
Justin is a contributing writer and editor who previously led Devex’s careers content strategy. Before joining Devex, Justin served as the managing editor of Springwise, covering sustainable and climate-tech innovation across all business sectors. He also spent over 13 years as an editor and writer for the New York Times, specializing in digital content production and strategy while producing written and multimedia content on a range of topics, including travel, sports, and technology.
David Ainsworth@daveainsworth4
David Ainsworth is business editor at Devex, where he writes about finance and funding issues for development institutions. He was previously a senior writer and editor for magazines specializing in nonprofits in the U.K. and worked as a policy and communications specialist in the nonprofit sector for a number of years. His team specializes in understanding reports and data and what it teaches us about how development functions.
