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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To highlight what is happening to US Foreign Aid?

133 replies

Locutus2000 · 04/02/2025 16:04

Elon Musk's taskforce have not just shut down NSAID (United States Agency for International Development) but are starting to actively erase its' existence.

Pressed about his support for USAID during his first term in office, Trump said he loved the “concept” but not the execution of the agency’s mission.
“They turn out to be radical left lunatics. And the concept of it is good, but it’s all about the people,” he said.

USAID logos and photos showing the humanitarian work the agency does around the globe were removed from its offices last week, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN.

“All of the visuals have been taken down. These are like large-scale photos of our work in developing countries that are in our lobbies, in our galleys, in communal kitchens, hallways,” a USAID employee said.

Another USAID worker told CNN: “They’ve taken the photos off the walls, and we’re missing half of our colleagues because our colleagues are gone and have been let go, and everyone sort of feels like they’re walking around with a target on their back.”

When asked if leaders in their department appeared to have any more information on the future of the agency’s work, the source said: “Our senior leaders have all been fired.”

Regardless of your position on Foreign Aid, this type of scorched-earth petty bullying of dissidents has to be intolerable?

So much slipping through the cracks with the barrage of Executive Orders, all entirely by design.

This is all feels like banana republic / post communist block stuff, ignoring the more worrying parallels.

AIBU to feel comparisons to historic dictatorships are becoming increasingly valid, hyperbole aside? All live and on social media for our kids to watch.

Rubio says he’s acting director of USAID as humanitarian agency is taken over by the State Department | CNN Politics

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that he is acting administrator the US Agency for International Development, confirming the de-facto takeover of the humanitarian agency by the State Department.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/03/politics/usaid-washington-workers/index.html

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
Valeriekat · 05/02/2025 07:57

The State Department can do the same thing. There will still be foreign aid!

Valeriekat · 05/02/2025 08:01

InveterateWineDrinker · 04/02/2025 17:55

The other thing being overlooked in all of this is that USAID is funded by Congress. For anyone who believes in a system of checks and balances and the separation of powers it is rather worrying that the will of Congress can be overturned by Executive Order.

It was set up by an EO and so can be ended by one.

frenchnoodle · 05/02/2025 08:18

Locutus2000 · 04/02/2025 16:33

Essentially this is targeting a tiny group of individuals, demonising them and literally taking their jobs.

We've been here before. And it certainly affected the UK then.

We've not had this little post explained yet. What little group of individuals do you mean?

YouDeserveBetterSoAskForIt · 05/02/2025 08:20

YABU. It is corrupt and needed to be sorted out.

ViciousCurrentBun · 05/02/2025 08:27

When people see aid feeding children and giving medical aid they in the main can live with it. When they hear that’s it’s been given to theatre groups many can’t. This is what’s happened right here. So a massive swing to the right. It was inevitable.

ballroompink · 05/02/2025 08:53

Something that is useful to know re: aid for theatre/drama stuff (not sure on this particular case but I have worked in development in Africa/Asia) is that in communities where you have people who cannot read, have no access to the Internet, live remotely and have an oral tradition, drama, song etc. are immensely effective at communicating important information e.g. public health messaging, skills, awareness of government support and legislation, etc.

I've seen the tabloids mock aid money going to this sort of thing before but the fact is, it's a very effective tool that helps people.

StandFirm · 05/02/2025 09:00

Locutus2000 · 04/02/2025 16:04

Elon Musk's taskforce have not just shut down NSAID (United States Agency for International Development) but are starting to actively erase its' existence.

Pressed about his support for USAID during his first term in office, Trump said he loved the “concept” but not the execution of the agency’s mission.
“They turn out to be radical left lunatics. And the concept of it is good, but it’s all about the people,” he said.

USAID logos and photos showing the humanitarian work the agency does around the globe were removed from its offices last week, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN.

“All of the visuals have been taken down. These are like large-scale photos of our work in developing countries that are in our lobbies, in our galleys, in communal kitchens, hallways,” a USAID employee said.

Another USAID worker told CNN: “They’ve taken the photos off the walls, and we’re missing half of our colleagues because our colleagues are gone and have been let go, and everyone sort of feels like they’re walking around with a target on their back.”

When asked if leaders in their department appeared to have any more information on the future of the agency’s work, the source said: “Our senior leaders have all been fired.”

Regardless of your position on Foreign Aid, this type of scorched-earth petty bullying of dissidents has to be intolerable?

So much slipping through the cracks with the barrage of Executive Orders, all entirely by design.

This is all feels like banana republic / post communist block stuff, ignoring the more worrying parallels.

AIBU to feel comparisons to historic dictatorships are becoming increasingly valid, hyperbole aside? All live and on social media for our kids to watch.

It's not a hyperbole, it's a very neutral and factual description of what's going on. There is a real sense of fear among non-Trumpers in the US. It is noticeable.

Midnightlove · 05/02/2025 09:14

It is horrific. 43% of the world's development and aid gone overnight.

Why do they need to be responsible for so much of the money? It seems like America is always paying more than it's fair share, and can't blame them for being sick of it and putting themselves first

BaleOfHay · 05/02/2025 09:18

@Midnightlove

That's simplistic. Soft power. HUGE impact for a relatively low outlay. Combatting Chinese influence in a global battle for security and power. This directly negatively affects Americans, and the rest of us,

InveterateWineDrinker · 05/02/2025 09:22

ballroompink · 05/02/2025 08:53

Something that is useful to know re: aid for theatre/drama stuff (not sure on this particular case but I have worked in development in Africa/Asia) is that in communities where you have people who cannot read, have no access to the Internet, live remotely and have an oral tradition, drama, song etc. are immensely effective at communicating important information e.g. public health messaging, skills, awareness of government support and legislation, etc.

I've seen the tabloids mock aid money going to this sort of thing before but the fact is, it's a very effective tool that helps people.

Grant funding for community theatres in the UK doesn't just support aspiring thespians and playwrites or subsidise ticket prices for luvvies. It funds apprenticeships for electricians, carpenters, painters and so on, so that they go on to skilled trades and create wealth.

caringcarer · 05/02/2025 09:29

LifeExperience · 04/02/2025 16:30

It was madness, especially since the forensic accountants have found that much of that money wasn't going anywhere but in corrupt American pockets. The whole US foreign aid system needs a complete overhaul.

Biden was incapacitated and a lot of corrupt shit was going on with no Presidential oversight. Not Biden's fault but it happened and it needs to be fixed.

I agree. Biden was clearly past his best in his presidency and some took advantage of his lack of supervision. It can't take 10,000 people to administer the FA.

snugsnug1 · 05/02/2025 09:40

InveterateWineDrinker · 05/02/2025 09:22

Grant funding for community theatres in the UK doesn't just support aspiring thespians and playwrites or subsidise ticket prices for luvvies. It funds apprenticeships for electricians, carpenters, painters and so on, so that they go on to skilled trades and create wealth.

A dumbed down electorate, ingesting bite sized nuggets of disinformation is never going to understand the deeper principles and reach of this kind of aid, unfortunately.

They don't even seem to understand the direct link between cutting it and how it will contribute to quickly mutating global pandemics.

BaleOfHay · 05/02/2025 09:55

Agree @snugsnug1 - global health projects are exactly that, global. Investment in pre wanting infectious diseases or pandemic preparedness are the first line of defence for the 'west'. But to mention the likely waves of immigration as health systems etc collapse and violence increases.

Andante57 · 06/02/2025 08:45

There’s an article in the Spectator this week about the recipients of foreign aid from US and Britain. Apparently America sent ‘hundreds of millions of dollars to provide better irrigation systems for Afghan poppy-growing projects’.

It sounds shocking but I wonder if the plan had been to grow opium for medicine.

ScholesPanda · 06/02/2025 09:01

Trump was elected as an American exceptionalist so it's not really surprising that he is cutting foreign aid.

Lots of people don't care about people in other countries, so not surprising to see lots of cheerleaders here. The cuts that worry me most are those to programmes focused on HIV or malaria prevention. Malaria was present in a lot of Southern Europe as late as the 1950s/60s, programmes to eradicate it removed it and prevented it from returning. I also worry about the WHO's efforts to contain an Ebola outbreak in DRC.

If these efforts fail, people might quickly learn that waving a UK or USA passport at viruses and bacteria doesn't actually work.

TemporaryPosition · 06/02/2025 09:07

@Locutus2000

"Regardless of your position on Foreign Aid, this type of scorched-earth petty bullying of dissidents has to be intolerable?"

No. The reason these organisations are so weighted in one direction is because they themselves have viciously and sadistically attacked their own political opponents. This was denied, minimised and then called 'accountability'. Now the tables have turned you don't like it. Let me get out my tiny tiny violin.

BaleOfHay · 06/02/2025 09:15

The equivalent here would be Farage getting in and saying, "Right, the benefits bill and the NHS supporting spongers is absurd, let's sort this out by cutting off ALL benefits, UC, tax credits and NHS support today - and then consider what we might put in place"....

Does that sound like a good idea?

Ablondiebutagoody · 06/02/2025 10:36

BaleOfHay · 06/02/2025 09:15

The equivalent here would be Farage getting in and saying, "Right, the benefits bill and the NHS supporting spongers is absurd, let's sort this out by cutting off ALL benefits, UC, tax credits and NHS support today - and then consider what we might put in place"....

Does that sound like a good idea?

It would be the equivalent of Farage coming in and saying "Let's cut foreign aid"

snugsnug1 · 06/02/2025 11:39

Andante57 · 06/02/2025 08:45

There’s an article in the Spectator this week about the recipients of foreign aid from US and Britain. Apparently America sent ‘hundreds of millions of dollars to provide better irrigation systems for Afghan poppy-growing projects’.

It sounds shocking but I wonder if the plan had been to grow opium for medicine.

Can you put up the sourcing the Spectator used for that?

I believe there was large investment at one point in infrastructure to move Afghan farming away from opium poppies towards sustainable alternatives.

Editing to add: there has been a very long, not very successful struggle to move Afghanistan away from poppy production, as obviously it's the source of the majority of heroin production in the world, so I believe the Spectator has possibly slanted this story.

LolaPeony · 06/02/2025 12:12

BaleOfHay · 06/02/2025 09:15

The equivalent here would be Farage getting in and saying, "Right, the benefits bill and the NHS supporting spongers is absurd, let's sort this out by cutting off ALL benefits, UC, tax credits and NHS support today - and then consider what we might put in place"....

Does that sound like a good idea?

No, the equivalent would be Farage scrapping our foreign aid budget - we have one too, you know!

Willoo · 06/02/2025 12:18

BaleOfHay · 06/02/2025 09:15

The equivalent here would be Farage getting in and saying, "Right, the benefits bill and the NHS supporting spongers is absurd, let's sort this out by cutting off ALL benefits, UC, tax credits and NHS support today - and then consider what we might put in place"....

Does that sound like a good idea?

Don’t be ridiculous

Potsofpetals · 06/02/2025 12:21

Have you seen the list of USAID projects. It’s absolutely criminal. What happens in the US generally follows here and I say thank god for that. The government has no business giving away a penny of our money. All foreign aid must end and asylum seekers need to be returned to their country of origin. It is the only way this madness will end. Why should we as a nation get poorer so another country can develop past us.

Potsofpetals · 06/02/2025 12:22

BaleOfHay · 06/02/2025 09:15

The equivalent here would be Farage getting in and saying, "Right, the benefits bill and the NHS supporting spongers is absurd, let's sort this out by cutting off ALL benefits, UC, tax credits and NHS support today - and then consider what we might put in place"....

Does that sound like a good idea?

You really shouldn’t be voting if that’s what you think it means.

BaleOfHay · 06/02/2025 12:33

In terms of HUMAN IMPACT that is what is happening on the ground. You are naive to think that this approach is anything other than evil.

I am not disagreeing with your right to argue against aid/development (although I think it is incredibly short-sighted not to see that we in the 'west' benefit from health and stability elsewhere). But you do not go about it by setting a bomb off.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/opinion/usaid-spending-trump-musk.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

snugsnug1 · 06/02/2025 12:54

BaleOfHay · 06/02/2025 12:33

In terms of HUMAN IMPACT that is what is happening on the ground. You are naive to think that this approach is anything other than evil.

I am not disagreeing with your right to argue against aid/development (although I think it is incredibly short-sighted not to see that we in the 'west' benefit from health and stability elsewhere). But you do not go about it by setting a bomb off.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/opinion/usaid-spending-trump-musk.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Yes, it's most definitely in all our interest to cut funding to the aid organisations that try to contain Ebola, AIDS, monkeypox, etc. etc. We will definitely not be creating any problems by allowing communicable disease to run rampant and mutate. How could that possibly be seen as short-sighted?