Trump Admin Freezes All US Foreign Aid, Exempts Israel – Ukraine Affected

Trump Admin Freezes All US Foreign Aid, Exempts Israel: Reflecting the sweeping order, since Friday, the Trump administration has reportedly frozen foreign aid of every kind, including that to Ukraine, save for Israel and Egypt.

"The United States, the largest donor in the world, has not suspended emergency food and military humanitarian assistance for Israel and Egypt," an AFP report said.

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This syncs up with President Donald Trump's promise of an "America First" agenda, pledging to extremely limit foreign aid.

This covers everything from development assistance to military aid, including aid to Ukraine, which has received billions of dollars in weapons under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden amid its battle waged against the Russian invasion.

The AFP report said the order also means a freeze of at least several months on US funding for PEPFAR. This is the anti-HIV/AIDS initiative that has purchased anti-retroviral drugs to treat the disease in developing countries, largely in Africa.

Launched by President George W. Bush in 2003, PEPFAR is said to have saved about 26 million lives and enjoyed broad popular support until recently in Washington.

The memo specifically exempted military assistance to Israel--who has seen a significant expansion in permanent arms packages from the USA since the Gaza conflict--and Egypt, who has historically received sizeable US defense funding since it signed a peace treaty with Israel back in 1979.

From the beginning of the memo, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also made an exception for the US contribution to emergency food assistance, which it will continue to provide in the aftermath of various crises around the world, notably in Sudan and Syria.

The memo permits the State Department to provide other exceptions on a case-by-case basis, and to cover salaries for staff and other administrative expenses on a short-term basis.

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It apparently called for an internal review of all foreign assistance within 85 days.

Marco Rubio, in the memo, stated that it was impossible for the new administration to assess whether existing foreign aid commitments "are not duplicated, are effective, and are consistent with President Trump's foreign policy.”

While several European nations contribute much more as a percent of their economies, America has a system where it has long since been the largest donor in dollar terms.

The United States has already given over $64 billion in overseas development assistance in 2023, said the organization that advises industrialized countries: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Data for the year 2024 was unavailable, according to the report.

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