Trump unveils his full 2026 budget, with 'draconian' cuts to foreign aid

The Trump administration has unveiled its 2026 budget request — a sweeping proposal that would slash U.S. international affairs spending to its lowest level in 80 years. The cuts, critics say, are “deep and draconian,” and would result in an 85% drop in the country’s foreign affairs funding if approved by Congress in its current form. That includes a $31 billion budget decrease, and a clawback of $21 billion through rescission requests — which asks Congress to cancel funds it had previously committed to spending. The first of several expected rescission requests hit Capitol Hill this week, with the vast majority of its $9.4 billion package focused on what the White House called “wasteful” foreign aid spending. “The FY 2026 budget request of $28.5 billion for the Department of State, excluding rescissions, will allow us to fulfill our mission, while streamlining programs and operations for a more effective and efficient Department for the American people,” wrote Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his own 214-page budget request, which outlines the way the State Department would use the smaller pool of cash. “This request aggressively aligns resources toward objectives that are in the best interests of our nation and at an overall cost savings.” If fully enacted, the cuts would bring funding to its lowest level since before World War II, according to analysis from the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. That’s a $51.7 billion decrease from last fiscal year, and would leave $9.4 billion for international affairs spending — just 0.03% of the country’s gross domestic product, compared to a 0.3% average across the last decade. “It looks clear that a lot of [foreign assistance] is going to be zeroed out,” said Daryl Grisgraber, the humanitarian policy lead at Oxfam America. “And that is alarming to say the least.” At the same time, other spending has shot up. The president has proposed a 13% increase in defense spending — some $1.01 trillion — in 2026, while committing a “historic” $175 billion to the Department of Homeland Security to “at long last, fully secure our border.” Trump’s budget request isn’t a binding document, but rather a blueprint for what the administration would like to see. Now, it’s up to Congress to shape, approve and pass the budget in its final form. “It’s so hard to say [what will happen] in the current environment, and I do really wonder how the dynamics will play out, particularly with the rescission package now in the mix,” said Erin Collinson, the director of policy outreach at the Center for Global Development, a Washington-D.C. think tank. “This presents a pretty stark picture, as it is. And if you’re also rescinding a substantial share of FY25 earlier money … that would be a really dramatic turn." What’s at stake Rubio’s budget document excludes rescissions — that is, it details next year’s budget without adding the extra $21 billion cut to previously-appropriated funds. But even so, the slashes to foreign aid are sweeping. They mirror reductions outlined in Trump’s “skinny budget,” a simplified version of the document, with the largest cuts affecting the country’s development, economic assistance, humanitarian and global health funds. Development and economic assistance — which were each funded with $3.9 billion in 2024 — would be eliminated, and replaced with the America First Opportunity Fund, or A1OF, in the coming fiscal year. The $2.9 billion account will focus on “strategic investments” to make the country “safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” according to Rubio’s budget document. That includes “supporting repatriations and removals,” “countering China and other near-peer rivals,” and advancing U.S. economic interests through the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, an agreement that allows American ships to fish in other countries’ waters. The request also eliminates the country’s $4 billion international disaster assistance account, or IDA, the $3.2 billion migration and refugee assistance account, or MRA, and the $1.6 billion Food for Peace account, replacing all three with a new fund — worth just $2.5 billion — that the administration refers to as the international humanitarian assistance, or IHA, account. There’s also a boost for the country’s emergency refugee and migration assistance, or ERMA, fund, with the budget increasing by 1,500,000%, going from $100,000 last year to $1.5 billion next year. Those funds would be used to help halt illegal migration, the document states, by facilitating the “voluntary return” of migrants from the United States. “The Request assumes a new approach to humanitarian aid, including by focusing on crises in which there is a clear, direct nexus to U.S. national interests and by pursuing fairer burden sharing with other donors,” the document states. Global health funding is slated to fall by 62% to $3.8 billion from $10 billion in 2024. While Rubio’s document states that “life-saving assistance that keeps Americans safe,” it eliminates funding for family planning, reproductive health, neglected tropical diseases, and what it calls non-emergency nutrition. It also removes all funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the global mechanism that provides vaccines for the world’s poorest children. The request cuts $1.8 billion from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, the country’s flagship HIV program, according to an analysis from the ONE Campaign — leaving $2.9 billion to focus “only on the most cost-efficient, life-saving HIV treatment” and the development of “country handover plans” to transition nations away from PEPFAR support. The proposal also slashes all funding for the country’s Democracy Fund; assistance to Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia; the Complex Crises Fund; the Transition Initiatives account; and all funding for international organizations such as UNICEF, the U.N. Development Programme, and beyond. Contributions to the United Nations would fall by nearly 83%, while those to multilateral development banks would drop by nearly one-third. Even the Millennium Challenge Corporation — an agency that for years has enjoyed bipartisan support — would have its budget drop from $930 million in 2025 to $224 million in 2026, on top of a $1.2 billion rescission of MCC’s unobligated balances. Discretionary spending to the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation would also drop by 19%, according to analysis from the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, though the request includes a $3 billion fund for a new, revolving account to “expand use of DFC’s equity tool.” Multilateral development banks For multilateral development banks and funds, it’s a mixed bag. Overall, MDBs would receive $1.3 billion from the Trump administration, compared with $1.9 billion during the last year of Biden’s presidency. “It does seem like the Treasury [Department] is really interested in ensuring that the U.S. doesn’t lose its shareholding and stake in some of these institutions,” said the Center for Global Development’s Collinson. “I think they’re sending a signal that they think it’s important for the U.S. to continue to be a leader, and to not lose out to other countries there.” Case in point was the country’s contribution to the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries. Late last year, former President Joe Biden promised $4 billion over three years to the fund — and while Trump’s proposal is lower, it still comes out to $3.2 billion over the same time frame, pending congressional approval. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Inter-American Investment Corporation will also receive boosts, according to the document, while the African Development Bank and Asian Development Fund will see funding at similar levels to 2025. “[International finance institutions] share core American values of transparency and accountability, anti-corruption, and economic development driven by the private sector and free enterprise,” the document states. “Our role in the IFIs is a cost-effective way for us to lead but not shoulder the burden alone.” That being said, other multilateral development banks would see U.S. contributions drop, with those to the African Development Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Bank zeroed out entirely. Contributions to multilateral accounts such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development, or IFAD, and the G-20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments have also been eliminated in the request. The death of small agencies A number of smaller agencies — many of which are currently battling for survival in federal court — have only enough money for a closeout. That includes the Inter-American Foundation, despite a judge ruling recently that the Trump administration’s actions to dismantle that agency were void. The National Endowment for Democracy, the country’s core mechanism for funding democracy, human rights, and governance programs, would see its budget drop to zero — again, despite a recent court ruling that sided with the NED. And funding for the U.S. Institute of Peace, which also just saw a win in the courts, would have its funding fall by 66%. The U.S. Agency for Global Media and the U.S. African Development Foundation are also slated for closure. USAGM saw its budget drop to $306 million from $1.7 billion in 2025, while the USADF’s budget decreased to $6 million from $45 million. “The recommended funding levels result from a rigorous, line-by-line review of FY 2025 spending, which was found to be laden with spending contrary to the needs of ordinary working Americans and tilted toward funding niche non-governmental organizations and institutions of higher education committed to radical gender and climate ideologies antithetical to the American way of life,” read an earlier document, which was published by the White House’s budget office on May 2. What’s next? Some lawmakers — such as Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson — have expressed enthusiasm for the cuts. But as committees across Capitol Hill meet to discuss the proposed budgets, some are already beginning to push back. On Wednesday, lawmakers on the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee marked up a bill on agricultural, food, and related topics, and chose to retain Food for Peace, a program that the Trump administration had slated for elimination. In its markup document, the committee provided $900 million for the program, which purchases surplus commodities from farmers throughout the country and donates them to countries across the world. That’s $787 million less than 2025, the lawmakers said — but even so, it’s $900 million more than zero. The same committee will markup the international affairs bill on June 24, which will be followed by a markup by the corresponding Senate committee in the coming weeks. “No matter who the administration is in the White House, the budget document is really just a communication of priorities,” said Elizabeth Hoffman, executive director for North America at the ONE Campaign. “What’s been more concerning to me is the rescissions package that we saw yesterday, as I think that will be the real indicator of how serious Congress is about its own power of the purse.” Congress has 45 days to decide on that package, which was sent to Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Republican leaders at the House of Representatives have already signaled their intent to move quickly, with Rep. Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, telling reporters that his team was working to send a bill to the House floor by as early as Thursday. “Now that this wasteful spending by the federal government has been identified by DOGE, quantified by the Administration, and sent to Congress, House Republicans will fulfill our mandate and continue codifying into law a more efficient federal government,” Johnson posted on X after he received the recissions request on Tuesday. “This is exactly what the American people deserve.” Update, June 5, 2025: This story has been updated to clarify that Trump’s pledge to the World Bank’s IDA fund is $3.2 billion over three years, pending congressional approval.