The Future of U.S. Foreign Aid Is Looking Troubled

The Trump administration says it’s preserving some foreign aid. But unless Congress acts, advocates say humanitarian aid will never be the same.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens as President Donald Trump meets with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House. Alex Brandon/AP

If the future of international humanitarian aid relies on U.S. funding, the situation is looking bleaker than ever.

Foreign aid supporters don’t have much hope for a reversal of Elon Musk-led cuts, even though President Donald Trump’s administration says it wants to keep some foreign aid going.

“In my thirty-plus years, it’s never been harder to sustain any form of hope,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the Aids Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, one of several organizations suing the administration over its January freeze on foreign aid. “What’s so devastating is that this administration has moved with lightning speed. The courts move relatively slowly and methodically, and Congress has moved not at all.”