USAID folded as State Department takes over

WASHINGTON - The USAID has officially folded and will no longer dispatch foreign aid across the globe, with the assignments now set to be taken by the State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced, as Donald Trump’s administration looks into cost-cutting measures.

According to Rubio, USAID had failed on its mandate for decades, noting that the funding was not in the interest of Americans. The State Department will supervise all foreign aid, if any, he announced.

"Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War. Development objectives have rarely been met, instability has often worsened, and anti-American sentiment has only grown," Rubio wrote.

"This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end. Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests. As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance.

"Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies—and which advance American interests—will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency," he continued.

When Trump took over in January 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) took drastic actions meant to save the country from unnecessary expenses, with the USAID met in the mix among other US-sponsored organisations.

The agency came under fire for many funding choices, including allocating $1.5 million for a program that sought to "advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities" and a $70,000 program for a "DEI musical" in Ireland.

As a result, Rubio announced on March 11 that the State Department had completed a six-week review and would cancel more than 80% of USAID programs, cutting roughly 5,200 of USAID's 6,200 programs.

However, Democrats have blasted the Trump administration's efforts to trim foreign aid programs, and many activists have protested the plans. Actress Charlize Theron lashed out at the administration on Monday.

"The world feels like it’s burning because it is," Theron said at the annual Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Program Block Party, according to Variety.

"Foreign aid cuts brought HIV and AIDS programs in my home country of South Africa to an absolute standstill," Theron said. "All of this is not just detrimental, it’s dangerous. People will lose their lives. Many have already, unfortunately, and at a frightening rate. It’s heartbreaking to see this kind of unnecessary suffering."

Somalia is one of the countries that hugely depends on funding from the United States of America, and the exit of the USAID could have serious consequences on humanitarian and peacekeeping missions within the country.

GAROWE ONLINE