USAID cuts 2025

What USAID did, and the effects of Trump's cuts on lifesaving aid

by By Oxfam America Oxfam 6/11/2025

U.S. foreign aid has long played a critical role in tackling poverty, hunger, and inequality worldwide, which is why the Trump administration’s recent cuts were met with public outrage and pushback from development and humanitarian organizations, including Oxfam.

Despite widespread public support for U.S.-funded foreign aid, the Trump administration has shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) , which funded the majority of U.S. humanitarian and development assistance worldwide to people in some of the worst crises. The effect of these cuts on people is dire: At least 23 million children stand to lose access to education, and as many as 95 million people would lose access to basic healthcare, potentially leading to more than 3 million preventable deaths per year.

Inside the Trump Administration’s Man-Made Hunger Crisis

by Brett Murphy and Anna Maria Barry-Jester 17/2/25 PROPUBLICA

On July 18, a mild, overcast night in Nairobi, Kenya, a team of President Donald Trump’s top foreign aid advisers ducked into a meeting room at the Tribe Hotel, their luxury accommodations in the city’s diplomatic quarter, for a private dinner.

Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.

by Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy 15/12/25 PROPUBLICA

On the one-month anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this year, a group of his appointed aides gathered to celebrate.

Medical experts concerned USAID spending cuts could impact global health programs

by Geoff Bennett 28/1/25 PBS NEWS

The uncertainty around the Trump administration's sweeping funding freeze is also alarming many in the world of global health, since it could affect key programs overseen by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

Study: 14 million lives could be lost due to Trump aid cuts

by Jonathan Lambert 1/7/25 npr

That argument clashes with a new study published Monday in the medical journal, the Lancet. The study estimates that USAID programs have saved over 90 million lives over the past two decades. The researchers also estimate that if the current cuts continue through 2030, 14 million people who might have otherwise lived could die.

Aid groups say USAID cuts are already having deadly consequences

by Gabrielle Emanuel, Steve Inskeep 28/5/25 npr

President Trump, with the help of Elon Musk, cut billions of dollars in global health programs earlier this year. The administration has dismissed the idea that that had much effect. Here's an exchange between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Democratic Representative Brad Sherman of California during a hearing last week.