INTERNATIONAL
Trump calls his own foreign aid cuts at USAID 'devastating'

US President Donald Trump meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 21, 2025. - REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
WASHINGTON: 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."
AI Brief
- Trump defended major cuts to US foreign aid, saying other countries should contribute more.
- The US cut most of its US$500 million aid to South Africa, which had focused on healthcare.
- HIV care in South Africa has suffered, with reduced testing and patient monitoring.
"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 Most of that funding has been withdrawn, though it is unclear exactly how much.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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