Trump’s aid cuts plunge humanitarian sector into existential crisis

US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has come with sweeping cuts to humanitarian aid. As the impact is already being felt on the ground, aid workers are struggling with a major upheaval in their operating environment. Donald Trump marked his return to the White House this year with an unprecedented attack on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Republican president accused the agency – responsible for US development and humanitarian aid worldwide – of being run by “radical-left lunatics” and claimed that there was “tremendous fraud” going on, without providing any evidence. At his request, most of the agency’s programmes were suspended pending review. On March 10, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that 83% of them would be terminated. The dismantling of USAID, combined with recent budget cuts from other traditional donors, marks a turning point for humanitarian aid. The sector is facing an unprecedented funding crisis at a ...