The administration of President Donald Trump has reportedly frozen assistance grants as part of a broader foreign policy audit
Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Washington, DC, January 21, 2025. © Alex Wong / Getty Images US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has frozen nearly all new aid grants to Ukraine for 90 days, Politico reported on Friday. The move comes after President Donald Trump ordered a full review of all foreign assistance. Rubio instructed diplomatic and consular posts to issue “stop-work orders” on nearly all “existing foreign assistance awards,” Politico said, citing an internal document. According to Politico, the order “shocked” State Department officials and appears to apply to funding for military assistance to Ukraine. The magazine cited three current and two former officials familiar with the matter as saying Rubio’s guidance means that “no further actions will be taken to disperse aid funding to programs already approved by the US government.” The BBC, which also reviewed the State Department memo, reported that it appears to “affect everything from development assistance to military aid.” Although the Pentagon previously told Voice of America that the aid freeze would not affect “security assistance to Ukraine,” Rubio’s memo reportedly only granted exceptions for military aid to Israel and Egypt, without mentioning any other country. Journalist Ken Klippenstein posted what he said was a copy of Rubio’s guidance, which “pauses all new obligations of funding, pending a review, for foreign assistance programs” funded through the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Trump administration just suspended all new foreign aid pending review, per State Department cable leaked to me (1/2) pic.twitter.com/MvE8aNo2XZ — Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) January 24, 2025 Trump, who took office on Monday, has ordered a 90-day suspension of all “foreign development assistance for assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy.”
Read more A USAID official told Reuters that among the programs that were frozen are assistance to schools and healthcare, including emergency maternal care and the vaccination of children. Since February 2022, USAID has provided $2.6 billion in humanitarian aid, $5 billion in development assistance, and more than $30 billion in “direct budget support,” according to its website. The US has provided nearly $66 billion in military aid to Ukraine since February 2022, according to the Pentagon. Trump has repeatedly criticized his predecessor, Joe Biden, for approving unconditional aid to Ukraine and has vowed to implement cost-cutting measures. He also promised to quickly negotiate a peace deal between Moscow and Kiev.
