Foreign aid is really all about the US's self-interest
The Trump administration froze most aid disbursements on Jan. 20. According to billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser to President Donald Trump with “special government employee status,” the U.S. Agency for International Development, widely known as USAID, had been shut down as of Feb. 3, 2025.
Although the Trump administration lacks the legal authority to do this, hundreds of people on the agency’s staff have been put on unpaid leave or fired, according to news reports.
And the agency’s official website wasn’t working. A partial replacement, however, had appeared within the State Department’s website.
I’m a scholar of public policy who researches nonprofits, which in the foreign aid sphere are often called nongovernmental organizations. These groups are responsible for carrying out many programs funded by foreign aid from governments such as the United States.
In light of the Trump administration’s attack on the government’s main foreign aid agency and the disruption of this funding, I believe it’s important to debunk three common myths:
- The U.S. spends too much on foreign aid.
- The U.S. spends more than its fair share on foreign aid compared with other countries.
- Corrupt governments squander U.S. foreign aid.
