10-07-2025
Trump's Foreign-Aid Cuts Are Ending Lives — and US Influence
The White House has hailed H.R. 1, aka the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as a 'once-in-a-generation piece of legislation' that puts 'America First.' Most of the public debate focused on its extension of lower taxes for the rich, the ballooning federal debt, and massive cuts in Medicaid spending. Yet equally important is what the act will do to America's standing abroad as a champion of the world's neediest people, and the 'soft power' influence that effort provides.
The budget act was hardly President Donald Trump's first assault on America's humanitarian leadership. On his inauguration day, he issued two executive orders concerning US refugee programs. One, titled ' Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, ' states that the America's 'foreign aid industry and bureaucracy' was not aligned with American interests, and acted in ways antithetical to the country's values. It called for a 90-day pause in development assistance and review of related programs to ensure their 'efficiency and consistency' with US foreign policy.
