US freezes almost all foreign aid

The US State Department has frozen nearly all foreign assistance worldwide effective immediately days after President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order Monday to put a hold on such assistance for 90 days.

The US State Department has frozen nearly all foreign assistance worldwide effective immediately days after President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order Monday to put a hold on such assistance for 90 days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a cable, seen by CNN, to all US diplomatic posts on Friday outlining the move, which threatens billions of dollars of funding from the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for programs worldwide. Foreign assistance has been the target of ire from Republicans in Congress and Trump administration officials, but the funding accounts for very little of the overall US budget. The scope of the executive order and subsequent cable has left humanitarian officials reeling. The cable calls for immediate “stop work” orders on existing foreign assistance and pauses new aid. In the coming month, the cable said, the administration will develop standards for a review of whether the assistance is “aligned with President Trump’s foreign policy agenda.” “Decisions whether to continue, modify, or terminate programs will be made following this review,” the cable states, noting that such a review should be completed within 85 days. The order from the State Department provides a waiver for emergency food assistance as well as for foreign military financing for Israel and Egypt. The cable does not specifically mention any other countries that receive foreign military financing like Ukraine or Taiwan.