POLITICO: Trump plan would steer foreign aid to ‘friends and allies’

“President Donald Trump is moving closer to unveiling a dramatic overhaul of how America should distribute foreign aid, one that would channel money to ‘friends and allies’ and prioritize countries that ‘support’ America’s goals. The move would upend at least a generation of largely bipartisan foreign aid policy, which has long operated under the principle — at least in theory if not always in practice — that financial assistance should prioritize humanitarian need, not political allegiance. The plan, laid out in a draft presidential policy directive obtained by POLITICO, could lead the U.S. to stop sending aid to countries that do not side with it in international disputes or somehow align themselves with U.S. rivals such as China. Countries in the third world, especially those in Africa, but also Asia and Latin America, may be seriously affected…” (Toosi, 9/6).