Trump Moves to Slash $5 Billion in Foreign Aid
Last update: August 30, 2025
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Trump moves to slash $5 Billion in foreign aid, targeting state department and USAID.
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to cut $5 billion in congressionally-approved foreign aid, a move that has escalated fears of a looming federal government shutdown.
CBI News reports that in a letter to the House of Representatives, Trump said the cuts would target programs under the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“The president will always put AMERICA FIRST,” the White House Office of Management and Budget wrote on social media while releasing the letter.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has sought to downsize large swaths of government, with USAID among his biggest targets.
Once the primary U.S. foreign aid agency, founded in 1961 under John F. Kennedy, it has now been folded into the State Department after Secretary of State Marco Rubio slashed 85 percent of its programming.
Rubio welcomed Trump’s latest action, saying it was part of “rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse from the US government, saving American workers billions of dollars.”
He added that the funding included money for global LGBTQ awareness.
But Democrats blasted the move. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called Trump’s use of a pocket rescission “illegal” and warned: “It’s clear neither Trump nor Congressional Republicans have any plan to avoid a painful and entirely unnecessary shutdown.”
Some moderate Republicans also voiced opposition, arguing the president should not be able to block funds already approved by Congress.
With Republicans holding both chambers of Congress but still needing Democratic support in the Senate, the standoff threatens to derail budget talks ahead of the September 30 deadline.
CBI News recalls that the shutdowns, though rare, have wide-reaching consequences, from food inspection delays to the closure of federal parks and monuments.
Up to 900,000 federal employees risk being furloughed, while another million deemed essential would work without pay until government operations resume.
The last shutdown was narrowly averted in March.
