Trump suspends US foreign assistance for 90 days pending reviews

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20 temporarily suspending all US foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals, Report informs via AP.

It was not immediately clear how much assistance would initially be affected by the order as funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress and is obligated to be spent, if not already spent.

The order, among many Trump signed on his first day back in office, said the “foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values” and “serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.”

Consequently, Trump declared that “no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.”