The Telegraph: How Trump undermined U.S. aid — but still spent billions in ‘transactional’ approach
“When Donald Trump became president in 2016, his victory was based on an ‘America First’ platform. In the administration’s debut budget in 2017, that looked like catastrophic news for those who came in second: the rest of the world, particularly low- and middle-income countries. The budget initially proposed a cut of around 30 percent to foreign assistance, a slash-and-burn approach that left those in the sector aghast. … But in a pattern that has been repeated every year since, Congress — where foreign aid has bipartisan support — rejected the cuts … Yet for decades, the U.S. has remained the biggest player on the global stage thanks to its sheer spending power — a role that has been dramatically undermined during the Trump presidency due to the constant specter of cuts. … Foreign aid also became a bargaining chip under President Trump…” (Rigby et al., 10/31).