Latest news with #foreignAid
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
MSNBC anchor chokes up live on air as he blames Trump and Musk for African boy's HIV death
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell held back tears while blaming the death of a 5-year-old African boy born with HIV on Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The Last Word host labeled the pair 'soulless, mindless entities' on Monday's show, claiming their cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) caused the death of the South Sudanese boy. ' The richest person in the world carrying around his drug box of Ecstasy, Adderall, psychedelic mushrooms and then taking life-saving drugs away from the poorest people in the world is a picture only Donald Trump could have created,' O'Donnell said. The host had been referring to a New York Times piece in March that detailed how Evan Anzoo died days after Trump and Musk halted all US foreign aid pending a review on January 20. Eighty-three percent of USAID programs - including the one providing aid to Anzoo - have been terminated since. The boy had been taking antiretroviral medicines that cost less than 12 cents per day, an emotional O'Donnell said, while also taking aim at Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 'Evan died on his watch,' the host said of Rubio, who last month told members of Congress that no children would die following the freezing of aid packages. Scroll down for video: 'Evans of all ages are dying on Marco Rubio's watch, and no one is counting. 'And so we don't know as of tonight whether it's tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of Evans, but we know it will be.' O'Donnell cited a separate New York Times piece, headlined Elon Musk's Legacy is Disease, Starvation and Death, that stated the cuts have led to an estimated 300,000 deaths overseas. 'Most of them children,' the host said. 'And it will most likely lead to significantly more by the end of the year.' 'This is what Musk's foray into politics accomplished,' he continued. 'If there were justice in the world, Musk would never be able to repair his reputation - at least not without devoting the bulk of his fortune to easing the misery he's engendered.' O'Donnell said that that Musk's time in government 'has revealed severe flaws in his character.' '[It's shown] a blithe, dehumanizing cruelty and a deadly incuriosity,' he said. Musk officially stepped down from his role in Trump 's administration over the weekend. The move - which came months after the Tesla and SpaceX boss shelled out nearly $300 million in political spending to help re-elect Trump - brought an abrupt end to one of politics' most unconventional partnerships. The funds that paid for Evan's medication, meanwhile, came from emergency plan for AIDS relief launched by George W. Bush in 2003. Before being frozen, the program reportedly saved more than 26 million lives.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Bono criticises USAid cuts in lengthy interview with podcaster Joe Rogan
Bono has criticised cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAid) budget in a lengthy interview with influential US podcaster Joe Rogan. He cited academic research by Brooke Nichols, a mathematician and professor of infectious diseases at Boston University, that suggests some 300,000 people have died as a consequence of the cuts. The U2 frontman's comments riled billionaire Elon Musk, whose department of government efficiency (Doge) implemented the dismantling of USAid. Mr Musk formally exited his role in the Trump administration on Wednesday. On his social media platform X, the Tesla chief executive responded to Bono's remarks on the subject by calling him a 'liar/idiot' and saying 'zero people have died'. READ MORE During a three-hour interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, which is streaming service Spotify's top podcast, Bono talked about his role in encouraging former US president George W Bush to increase overseas aid spending, particularly on antiretroviral drugs intended to combat Aids. He said a broad coalition of support for the aid spending was built and it greatly benefited the US's image overseas. Now, he said, 'all of that was torn down without a heads-up, without any notice, because people thought foreign aid was like 10 per cent of the budget or 20 per cent and it was doing things that it shouldn't have been doing'. 'I'm sure there was some waste ... but I can tell you as a person who saw what the United States was doing around the world, I saw America display itself at its finest,' he said. 'I remember being in the Oval Office with president Bush and we had these antiretroviral drugs. I said, paint them red, white and blue, Mr President, because these are the best advertisements for America there'll ever be.' [ Bono: Stories of Surrender review: A punch-to-the-guts stage show once you get past the Bono-ness of it all Opens in new window ] He said that to celebrate the slashing of USAid, as some have, is an act of 'evil'. He said it felt like these vital programmes were vandalised and destroyed 'with glee'. Bono maintained an amiable tone with Mr Rogan throughout the interview, which aired on Friday. Mr Rogan, who has previously been accused of spreading misinformation during some of his podcasts, endorsed Donald Trump in advance of the 2024 US presidential election. The bulk of the discussion was concerned with Bono's new film Stories of Surrender, his book Surrender, U2, and the band's upcoming album.
Washington Post
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
How U.S. cuts in Somalia could imperil the fight against al-Shabab
As President Donald Trump overhauls U.S. policy in Africa — slashing foreign aid programs and paring back assistance for allied forces in the region — al-Shabab militants are on the march in Somalia. One of al-Qaeda's best-funded and most lethal global affiliates, al-Shabab has retaken important towns from Somali forces over the past three months. Its fighters previously launched an assault on a U.S. airfield in Kenya and plotted attacks on the U.S. mainland.
Reuters
21-05-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Trump calls his own foreign aid cuts at USAID 'devastating'
WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his administration's cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and its aid programs worldwide have been "devastating." Speaking beside South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a White House visit, Trump was asked about his cutting most foreign aid by a reporter who said the decision had significant impacts in Africa. "It's devastating, and hopefully a lot of people are going to start spending a lot of money," Trump said in the Oval Office. "I've talked to other nations. We want them to chip in and spend money too, and we've spent a lot. And it's a big - it's a tremendous problem going on in many countries. A lot of problems going on. The United States always gets the request for money. Nobody else helps." The State Department, which manages USAID, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The administration has repeatedly defended the cuts, saying they were focused on wasted funds. The gutting of the agency, largely overseen by South Africa-born businessman Elon Musk, is the subject of several federal lawsuits. The United States is the world's largest humanitarian aid donor, amounting to at least 38% of all contributions recorded by the United Nations. It disbursed $61 billion in foreign assistance last year, just over half of it via USAID, according to government data, opens new tab. The U.S. spent half a billion dollars on South African aid in 2023, mostly on healthcare, the most recent data shows. Most of that funding has been withdrawn, though it is unclear exactly how much. The cuts have had an effect on the country's response to the HIV epidemic. South Africa has the world's highest burden of HIV, with about 8 million people - one in five adults - living with the virus. Washington was funding 17% of the country's HIV budget before the cuts. In the months since, testing and monitoring of HIV patients across South Africa has decreased, Reuters has reported.
The Independent
21-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
South Africa says its budget can't cover for the deep US cuts in foreign aid
South Africa doesn't have the funds to cover the over $430 million shortfall caused by the Trump administration's cuts in foreign aid, the country's finance minister said Wednesday. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana spoke to Parliament while presenting an updated budget — one without the value-added tax increases that had sparked public outcry and fierce disagreement among parties in the ruling coalition. Without that tax revenue, he said, South Africa doesn't have enough money to make up for the cuts that have threatened the vast network of support for one of the world's largest HIV-positive populations. The country runs the largest treatment network in the world. The finance minister spoke shortly before President Cyril Ramaphosa's much-anticipated meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. Earlier this year, the dismantling of USAID by the Trump administration saw around $436 million in annual funding for HIV treatment and prevention in South Africa evaporate, putting the program and thousands of health care jobs on the line. Godongwana said the updated budget prioritizes financial resources to support what is currently feasible, and defers other programs until 'our resources allow.' More pain might be coming, he warned. 'The spending pressures that may require funding later this year include, among others, the withdrawal of the presidential emergency plan for AIDS relief called PEPFAR funding, particularly which was through the USA,' he said. 'We've not made provision for the allocation for that now." Globally, PEPFAR is credited with saving at least 26 million lives since it began in 2003, according to the U.N. AIDS agency. South Africa's previous budget presentation allocated 28.9 billion rand ($1.6 billion) for health. The current one allocates a significantly lower 20.7 billion rand ($1.1 billion) instead. The money is earmarked to protect around 4,700 health positions, hire 800 doctors who have finished their community service and address shortages in medical supplies, services, and accruals.
