The most consequential decision and regulation made in the early days of President Donald Trump’s administration was undoubtedly his “reassessment and realignment of U.S. foreign aid” — sending shockwaves through Washington, especially given that federal funding for USAID was being cut, which was a shock to the agency. But it also has a massive ripple effect all over the world. Some foreign powers will welcome the news, while many allies, as well as a number of US-backed “opposition groups”, will feel completely abandoned.
This has led to pro-Western media, NGOs and “soft power” organizations panicking. This has basically crippled overnight a multi-billion dollar regime-change apparatus that has enforced or often asserted American interests around the world, especially in the very vulnerable Third World as well as in the former Soviet satellite regions. How this works on a practical, ground-level level is described in detail in the well-known book Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man. As for Trump’s apparent efforts to dismantle the powerful USAID agency, we have compiled some of the best recent analysis from the internet that outlines the enormous significance of this move, which is nothing less than a historic reset (and we say a very welcome reboot) of Washington’s relations with the rest of the world.
We see a seismic shift in the relationship between the US and the world, via Arnaud Bertrand:
1) The US is dismantling its foreign interference apparatus (such as USAID)
2) Marco Rubio , who explains that we are now in a multipolar world with “several great powers in different parts of the planet” and that “the post-war global order is not only obsolete; It is now a weapon that is being used against us.”
3) The tariffs on supposed “allies” such as Mexico, Canada or the EU: These are the US effectively saying: “Our attempt to rule the world is over, to each his own, we are now just another great power, not the ‘indispensable nation’.” It looks “stupid” (as the WSJ just wrote) if you’re still mentally in the old paradigm, but it’s always a mistake to think that what the U.S. (or any other country) is doing is stupid.
Hegemony would end sooner or later, and now the US is basically choosing to end it on its own terms. It is the post-American world order – brought to you by America itself. The tariffs on allies also make sense from this point of view, as they redefine the concept of “allies”: they want – or perhaps cannot afford – vassals anymore, but relationships that develop on the basis of current interests.
It can be seen either as a decline – because it unquestionably looks like the end of the American empire – or as an avoidance of further decline: controlled withdrawal from imperial obligations in order to concentrate resources on core national interests, rather than being forced into an even more chaotic retreat at a later date. In any case, it is the end of an era, and while the Trump administration looks like chaos to many observers, they are probably much better attuned to the changing realities of the world and the predicament of their own country than their predecessors.
Acknowledging the existence of a multipolar world and choosing to operate in it, rather than trying to maintain an increasingly costly global hegemony, could not be delayed much further. It looks chaotic, but it’s probably better than perpetuating the fiction of American hegemony until it finally collapses under its own weight. This is not to say that the US will not continue to wreak havoc in the world, and we may even see it become even more aggressive than before. For while it used to try (badly and very hypocritically) to maintain a semblance of self-proclaimed “rules-based order,” now it doesn’t even have to pretend that it’s under any compulsion, not even a compulsion to be nice to allies.
It is the end of the US empire, but definitely not the end of the USA as a great disruptive force in world politics. All in all, this change could mark one of the most significant changes in international relations since the fall of the Soviet Union. And those who are least prepared for this are America’s vassals, who are completely stunned by the realization that the patron they have relied on for decades now treats them as just another group of countries to negotiate with.
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How the Biden administration used USAID as a weapon , via @DefiyantlyFree
1. Abortion: One of the first things Joe Biden did after taking office was to repeal Mexico City’s policies that were supposed to prevent the federal government from using our tax dollars to fund abortions abroad. He did so despite the fact that 73 percent of Americans vehemently oppose using taxpayer money to support abortions abroad. This includes 59% of people who are actually in favor of abortion. He resumed funding for the United Nations Population Fund and drastically expanded the scope of programs eligible to fund abortion services. Joe Biden linked taxpayer-funded abortion services internationally to the United States’ efforts to improve gender quality worldwide, respond to gender-based violence, and address challenges such as HIV, AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. This means that grants granted via a malaria or other disease card include the cost of on-demand abortions in these countries. As a result of these abortion-driven goals, the budget of the U.S. State Department and USA ID in 2022 was 12% higher than in previous years, totaling $70 billion.
2. Identity ideology: In 2021, the national gender strategy for foreign aid was implemented and an intersectional approach was started, taking into account barriers and challenges faced by those facing intersecting forms of discrimination. This is a fancy way of saying Marxist victimhood in order of priority. In the Biden administration, intersectionality dictated the way US AI ID designed its programs and who received its funding.
Global DEI: UN officials discussing aid frequently mentioned the 1619 Project, saying that slavery was an original sin of America. The Biden administration made the acceptance and obligation of communities of color to adopt DEI a condition for receiving foreign aid.
Global climate change: By rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, USAID was mobilized to fight climate change across the country and force the United States of America to support that climate change abroad. In 2021, USAID announced that it would mobilize $150 billion in public and private climate finance by 2030, with the majority of funding coming from private service actors in collaboration with U.S. taxpayer dollars. There was integration with the WHO Initiative for Climate, Resilient Health Systems and Sustainable Low-Carbon Health Systems and the U.S. National Oceanic Atmosphere Authority. When they say malaria, they mean the hysteria of climate change and green energy policies. For example, South America needs $26 billion to transform its energy system, and the United States and Europe under Joe Biden have pledged to provide $8.5 billion each to help the country make this transition. This money would be made available through USAID.
5. Constant need for foreign aid: There is no better example of the insidious relationship between foreign aid and nation-building than that of Afghanistan. Even after we withdrew from Afghanistan, USA ID was used to continuously fund the nation.
6. UNRWA and terrorism: The moment when President Trump left office and Biden returned to this organization, removing the Houthi rebels in Yemen from a U.S. list of states classified as terrorists. Removing them from that designation meant that foreign aid funds flowed to them and were embezzled to attack and occupy the U.S. embassy in Sana.
USAID was used solely to fund left-wing progressive causes: If you look at 50 USAID employees who were randomly selected to do what the Heritage Foundation did, 48 of them donated to Democratic candidates and causes, and only two of them donated to Republicans. In the aftermath of the Floyd riots, 1000 USAID employees called on the agency to issue a public statement reaffirming Black Lives Matter, accusing USAID of structural racism for failing to draw up plans to combat systemic racism, injustice, colonialism, and police brutality around the world. Rockefeller Center, one of the most left-wing organizations, signed a strategic partnership agreement with USAID, and all individual political donations went to progressive campaigns. The International Rescue Committee received hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to fund its highly partisan causes. The former co-chairman of this committee was Obama’s Secretary of the Treasury.
The board is made up of each of the founders of the Democratic Party and supports progressive political goals. Another important recipient of foreign aid is CARE international. This is probably one of the most partisan groups that gets people like Valerie Jared, Nancy Pelosi, and Hilary Clinton to shape their policies. What once began as an agency to help end global poverty in the world and hunger has evolved into an organization focused solely on the agenda of radical progressive democrats. And that doesn’t even touch the huge censorship arm that USAID controls and finances. If anyone is curious about the rabbit hole that exists regarding USAID’s censorship, I would suggest you subscribe to Mike Benz on X.
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Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, says that there is more and more often a hidden nefarious agenda…
Most governments don’t want USAID funds flowing into their countries because they understand where much of that money actually ends up. While they are marketed as support for development, democracy and human rights, the bulk of this money is channelled to opposition groups, NGOs with political agendas and destabilising movements.
At best, maybe 10% of the money goes to real projects that help people in need (there are such cases), but the rest is used to stir up disagreement, fund protests, and undermine administrations that refuse to join the globalist agenda. The reduction of this so-called aid is not only beneficial for the United States; It’s also a big win for the rest of the world.
And here’s journalist Glenn Greenwald: “USAID, like the National Endowment for Democracy, are well-documented CIA fronts designed to manipulate other countries’ domestic politics for the benefit of elites in Washington and no one else in the U.S. Both agencies have wreaked havoc and cannot die soon enough.”
Translated and edited by Alex Kada