WASHINGTON, United States
US President, Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his administration’s cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and its aid programs worldwide have been “devastating.”
Speaking beside South African
President Cyril Ramaphosa during a White House visit, Trump was asked about his
cutting most foreign aid by a reporter who said the decision had significant
impacts in Africa.
“It’s devastating, and
hopefully a lot of people are going to start spending a lot of money,” Trump
said in the Oval Office.
“I’ve talked to other nations.
We want them to chip in and spend money too, and we’ve spent a lot. And it’s a
big – it’s a tremendous problem going on in many countries. A lot of problems
going on. The United States always gets the request for money. Nobody else
helps.”
The State Department, which manages USAID, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The administration has repeatedly defended the cuts, saying they were focused on wasted funds. The gutting of the agency, largely overseen by South Africa-born businessman Elon Musk, is the subject of several federal lawsuits.
The United States is the
world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, amounting to at least 38% of all
contributions recorded by the United Nations. It disbursed $61 billion in
foreign assistance last year, just over half of it via USAID, according to
government data.
The U.S. spent half a billion
dollars on South African aid in 2023, mostly on healthcare, the most recent
data shows. Most of that funding has been withdrawn, though it is unclear
exactly how much.
The cuts have had an effect on
the country’s response to the HIV epidemic. South Africa has the world’s
highest burden of HIV, with about 8 million people – one in five adults –
living with the virus.
Washington was funding 17% of
the country’s HIV budget before the cuts. In the months since, testing and
monitoring of HIV patients across South Africa has decreased, Reuters has
reported.
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