The Trump administration’s recent actions to freeze almost all U.S. foreign assistance has put at risk millions of the world’s most vulnerable people who rely on these programs for their healthcare, livelihoods, and other basic needs.
President Trump’s executive order and memo released by the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance on January 20, 2025, not only halted new foreign assistance programs but also required existing grants and contracts to stop work for 90 days.
It is standard practice for new administrations to review ongoing foreign assistance policies and programs implemented by their predecessors. But the Trump administration’s actions go well beyond the pale by also ceasing almost all foreign assistance—with a few exceptions for emergency food and life-saving humanitarian assistance and for foreign military financing to Israel and Egypt—during such a review. This unprecedented stop-work order will have the opposite impact of the Trump Administration’s stated goal of making the U.S. safer, stronger, and more prosperous.
This unprecedented stop-work order will have the opposite impact of the Trump Administration’s stated goal of making the U.S. safer, stronger, and more prosperous.
The harsh fallout of this freeze is already being felt by communities around the world, where lifesaving programs such as those providing immunizations and healthcare, have abruptly halted operations. The order is also eroding goodwill towards the United States and harming long-term efforts to support peace and stability globally, to adapt to the changing climate, and to address the root causes of forced migration.
The sudden halt to foreign assistance is interrupting some of the United States’ most cost-effective tools for promoting peace and human security globally, including conflict prevention and peacebuilding programs which save $26-$103 in conflict costs for every dollar invested. This creates opportunities for malign actors to fill the void. When President Obama froze development assistance to Yemen in February 2015, a dramatic spike in violence against civilians followed before the decision was reversed in 2017 under the first Trump Administration.
This freeze will not make the U.S. stronger. It will harm diplomatic efforts to strengthen U.S. partnerships and risks irreparably damaging the United States’ credibility with other governments as a steadfast partner. For example, less than 18 months ago the U.S. and Vietnam signed the historic Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement which includes an expanded commitment on addressing war legacies. The sudden freeze has stopped U.S. mine and unexploded ordnance clearance efforts in Vietnam, leading to “bewilderment” in the Vietnamese government.
This freeze will not make the U.S. more prosperous. In the long term, the disruption to economic development programs will slow or decrease the opening of new markets for U.S. trade. In the short term American development professionals are facing mass layoffs as organizations race to make payroll.
“[American] principles are also advanced by other elements of American influence – those that don’t require any military might… ”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has long expressed support for U.S. foreign assistance. In 2013, then-Senator Rubio said “[American] principles are also advanced by other elements of American influence – those that don’t require any military might… In most cases, the decisive use of diplomacy, foreign assistance, and economic power are the most effective ways to achieve our interests and stop problems before they spiral into crises.”
Grounded in the Quaker principles of equality and dignity for all, FCNL remains steadfast in calling on the United States, as a country with great wealth, to offer greater assistance to those in need. The U.S. cannot ask our partners to wait 90 days for critical assistance programs.
