In what comes as a significant development, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) staff on Monday were asked to stay out of the agency’s headquarters in Washington, according to the notice issued to them. This came after Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that US President Donald Trump has agreed to shut down the agency. Musk said that he discussed USAID, a six-decade-old agency, adding, “He (Trump) agreed we should shut it down.”
Here’s what Trump said on USAID
Speaking to reporters, Trump said that shutting down USAID “should have been done a long time ago.” Musk, on the other hand, said that the agency was run by “radical left lunatics.”.
If dismantled, it will be major blow to efforts including humanitarian assistance in Colombia, conservation efforts in Brazil, and coca eradication in Peru—South American countries that have been a priority for the support.
History of USAID
Established by former US President John F. Kennedy, USAID is a US agency tasked with delivering humanitarian assistance overseas. Kennedy came up with the idea of USAID as the USA’s struggle with the Soviet Union was at its peak, and the former US President sought a more efficient way to counter Soviet influence via foreign assistance. He also found the US State Department too bureaucratic in doing that.
The US Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act, clearing the way for Kennedy to set up USAID as an independent agency in 1961.
The USAID has remained effective even after the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Currently, the supporters of USAID are of the view that the assistance coming from the US facilitates countries in countering Russian and Chinese influence.
Trump freezes foreign assistance for 90 days
Importantly, after the US President came to power in the US, he decided to freeze foreign assistance for 90 days. Notably, even if some foreign aid resumes after the 90-day suspension ordered by President Donald Trump, many USAID-backed projects focus on areas he has derided as ideological: climate change, biodiversity, and minority and women’s rights, so several recipients fear their projects are now dead.
Moreover, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said that the original intention was to keep the US Agency for International Development running while reviewing how money was being spent.
(With inputs from AP)
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