US freezes almost all aid except for Israel, Egypt: Memo

AFP/APP

Washington: The United States, the world’s largest donor, froze nearly all foreign aid on Friday, allowing exceptions only for emergency food assistance and military funding for Israel and Egypt.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an internal memo days after President Donald Trump took office, reinforcing the administration’s “America First” policy, which aimed to tightly restrict overseas assistance.

“No new funds shall be obligated for new awards or extensions of existing awards until each proposed new award or extension has been reviewed and approved,” stated the memo, which was seen by AFP.

The broad directive is expected to impact a wide range of assistance programs, including development aid and military funding. This includes support for Ukraine, which had previously received billions of dollars in weapons under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, to counter Russian aggression.

The freeze also temporarily halts U.S. funding for PEPFAR, the anti-HIV/AIDS program that provides anti-retroviral drugs to developing nations, particularly in Africa. Launched in 2003 by President George W. Bush, PEPFAR is credited with saving approximately 26 million lives and has traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington.

However, the memo explicitly makes exceptions for military assistance to Israel and Egypt. Israel’s defense aid packages, already substantial, have grown further following the Gaza war. Meanwhile, Egypt has continued to receive generous U.S. military funding since signing a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

Rubio also allowed for U.S. contributions to emergency food assistance, which address crises such as those in Sudan and Syria. The memo provides room for the State Department to make additional case-by-case exceptions and temporarily fund staff salaries and administrative expenses.

The memo mandates an internal review of all foreign assistance programs within 85 days.

In defending the freeze, Rubio, who previously supported development aid during his tenure as a senator, wrote that the new administration could not ensure that existing foreign aid commitments were “not duplicated, effective, and consistent with President Trump’s foreign policy.”