Effective immediately on day one of Trump’s second presidency, a 90-day pause was put
on all USAID initiatives. Since the Trump administration believes there seems to be frivolous and inappropriate spending habits of the government as of current, this pause is to reevaluate said spending. From this “spring cleaning”, the American people are to expect dramatic changes in what foreign policies and matters are funded and what is off
the table.
Okay, cool, but why can’t we give aid to countries that need it?
That’s what I was thinking, too. The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and wealth is the precursor to power. We should use our power for good. Foreign aid is a power that we have been given through our mountain of wealth as a successful nation. It enables us to maintain necessary allies to keep our reputation as a national superpower clean and proactive. However, when foreign spending is prioritized over the health and well-being of its own people, we become our own enemy. The President’s #1 responsibility is to take care of the citizens who reside within its borders; to negate the people is to reject the care that must be given to them.
Trump’s Administration believes that “foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values” (Kates, “The Status of Trump’s…”). Moreover, from the large amounts of taxpayer dollars being dumped into foreign policy and aid, the American people seem to have been forgotten in the process. This is evident from the grotesque destruction of land in California due to the malicious wildfires that sweep across its land. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 3,628 wildfires have burned roughly 87,142 acres across the U.S. this year, which is above the averages from the past 10 years.
Within those acres of land burnt to a crisp are American homes, jobs, children- their lives- swiftly stripped away and burnt to ash in the blink of an eye. Foreign aid is a wonderful tool used to help those in need, but we should sit down and think about why we point fingers at everyone about this 90-day pause when we don’t even lift a finger to fight for our neighbor who has just lost everything.
I’m not saying that foreign aid is completely unnecessary. On the contrary, it’s important for us to help others with the wealth and power we have acquired as a nation. However, when people within our country's borders have lost their homes, jobs, and everything they have known, there must be a balance between what is being spent across the ocean and those who need to be helped across the street.
Not to mention, Secretary Rubio has implemented a temporary “emergency humanitarian waiver” to continue foreign aid in spaces where it must be kept, such as, “[...] core life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance” (Kates). Realistically, it would be inaccurate to state that America has stopped 100% of its aid to foreign countries. Instead, it would be a valid claim to say that Trump’s administration, in its efforts to prioritize the American people and their needs, has put a temporary stop to unnecessary foreign spending while maintaining emergency funds for people across the globe who truly need help, so the American people whose homes have been burned to the ground will have a fighting chance in building a new life.
The people in California whose homes were burnt down deserve America’s help; the people in Hawaii whose homes were disintegrated deserve America’s help; the people in the Appalachian regions whose property and belongings were drowned in floods deserve America’s help. It’s time to put our people first.
Who do we become if we don’t?
Photo Credit:
[Cover Photo]- Evan Vucci | AP
[1]- Wilmington Fire Department | Reuters
[2]- Josh Edelson | AFP - Getty Images
Sources:
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