USAid website goes dark with future of US assistance in doubt
The US Agency for International Development’s (USAid) website was off-line over the weekend as the Trump administration continues to review its future and the path forward for US foreign aid in general.
A network error or blank page was encountered when attempting to access the site, usaid.gov, across various countries and devices.
The move follows an executive order by President Donald Trump last month to halt and reevaluate US foreign aid. Billions of dollars in US assistance that are typically coordinated by the independent agency were frozen, and several senior officials suspended.
That order left many aid recipients, especially across Africa and in Ukraine, scrambling. The agency provides support for everything from humanitarian projects to health initiatives to disaster relief.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a waiver for certain “live-saving humanitarian assistance” as a three-month review is carried out to determine which of the thousands of US foreign aid projects align with Trump’s vision.
The agency’s programmes are also often baked into key foreign policy priorities such as helping countries’ energy transition, competing with China on infrastructure projects, and countering Moscow’s and Beijing’s influence.
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Under the Biden administration, the US and its Group of Seven allies agreed several initiatives to compete with China’s massive infrastructure programme and clout seen everywhere from Africa to Latin America to Asia.
The new administration sees foreign aid as charity and doesn’t consider how it serves US geopolitical interests, said a diplomat from a G7 country who declined to be identified to discuss sensitive issues.
Several reports, including from Reuters and the New York Times, suggested the agency could soon be folded into the State Department under Trump’s plans.
Democratic lawmakers warned on the social network X, where USAid’s primary account also went dark over the weekend, that any move to eliminate the agency’s independence would be illegal, against US interests, and would benefit China.
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the attempted “total destruction” of USAid was “happening as we speak” but that Trump “cannot unilaterally close a federal agency”.
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