On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending all U.S. foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending review.
According to Ukrinform, this was reported by Associated Press.
The suspension is intended to ensure that foreign assistance programs align with Trump’s political goals.
The Associated Press noted that the full scope of the assistance affected by the order is unclear, as many programs already have funding approved by Congress and must be paid out unless previously completed.
The executive order states that “the foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values” and “serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.”
As a result, Trump declared that “no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.”
During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last week, U.S. Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio emphasized that “every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: “Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”
The order signed by Trump leaves it up to Rubio or his designee to make such determinations, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget.
As reported by Ukrinform, on January 21, Trump also signed several other executive orders before thousands of his supporters at Capital One Arena in Washington.
Source: Trump suspends U.S. foreign assistance programs for 90 days
