Alan Zendell, February 3, 2025

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the United States government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $50 billion, USAID is one of the largest official aid agencies in the world and accounts for more than half of all U.S. foreign assistance…Congress authorizes USAID’s programs in the Foreign Assistance Act.

Yesterday, Donald Trump said USAID is run by “a bunch of radical lunatics.” His new best bud, Elon Musk, said USAID is nothing but a ball of worms. That’s the MAGA/Project 2025 point of view Trump disavowed throughout the 2024 election campaign. Here’s another. 

On January 31^st, I received a letter from a young cousin, a desperate call for aid, for her, her colleagues, and the people they have spent their careers trying to help. She’s a wife and mom who has spent her twenty-year professional life meeting the health care and nutritional needs of millions of people around the world.

What is at stake is the future, not only of her clients, but of the existence of the foreign aid apparatus of our federal government. The latter includes thousands of Americans employed by both the private and public sectors, who dedicated their lives to making the world a safer, healthier place. What most struck me about her letter was that although she has been furloughed along with thousands of others by Trump’s Executive Orders, it focused not on her job or loss of income, but on the harm Trump is causing to America and people who might die or suffer serious harm from them.

Canceling America’s aid to other nations is part of Trump’s massive plan to remake America in his own image – our narcissistic president whose only motivations in life are his own greed and lust for power, wants the world to perceive the United States in the same terms. To Trump, America First means Trump and his wealthy friends first, and the hell with everyone else. We’re all collateral damage.

While Trump views aid to others as a waste of resources, my dear cousin sees such aid as the true meaning of America First. She sees it as a bridge between peoples, of the Haves reaching out to the Have Nots. But it’s not just charity. By relieving hunger, curbing the spread of AIDS, and improving the general level of health in poverty-stricken countries, she believes we create a bond that enhances our national security and eliminates the main causes of wars, revolutions, and terrorism.

Thousands of Americans are employed in our foreign aid program, which Trump is attempting to eliminate with the stroke of a pen. That means thousands of American families will have their livelihoods stripped away without warning, this from a president who has promised jobs and prosperity for everyone. Personally, I have a problem understanding how this fits any rational definition of America First.

Aside from caring deeply about the people she serves and works with, the thing that motivated my cousin to reach out was the way Trump has chosen to govern in his first two weeks. It’s typical of the way he has approached things all his life. He starts hundreds of fires, sowing chaos and confusion everywhere, knowing that his opponents only have sufficient resources to fight a small fraction of them. They have no choice but to triage their defenses. Consequently, only the hottest fires with the loudest, most numerous victims have any chance of garnering support and defending their interests.

It’s classic Trump, Blitzkrieg politics, designed to overwhelm and smother all opposition. It’s what the MAGA movement has tried to do since Trump inspired it, and it’s the only way a small, determined minority of zealots can impose their will on 350 million Americans. It’s also the polar opposite of what our Constitution and Declaration of Independence from Britain intended. Democracy and majority rule are a sloppy, inefficient way to run a country, but they defined America for 240 years until Trump came along.

Thus, dedicated people like my cousin, who care deeply about their country, their jobs, and the people they serve must reach out and make us hear their voices. Their base of support isn’t large enough to survive triage. This is a prime example of Trump’s sledgehammer approach to governing. If we don’t speak up to counter it, he will be successful in dismantling most of what we built in the years since World War 2.

My cousin wants people to study our foreign aid program and see for themselves that preserving it is very much in America’s interest. If we agree with her values, the next step is contacting our federal Representatives and Senators. Otherwise, these programs will die.