Trump ends 83% of USAID programmes, cancels 5,200 contracts

U.S. stock market slump deepens amid recession fears
The U.S. government has officially terminated 83 per cent of the programmes run by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It has also cancelled 5,200 contracts initially awarded by the agency to several organisations.

This development comes several weeks after the suspension of all foreign assistance and issuance of a stop-work order on the agency.

The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced that the US Department of State, along with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), made this decision after a six-week review of the agency’s activities.

“The 5,200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States,” he said.

“In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programmes we are keeping (approximately 1,000) to be administered more effectively under the State Department,” Rubio added.

Due to the drastic elimination of numerous USAID programmes, many international projects dedicated to health, education, and humanitarian relief worldwide that were initially suspended will now end.

The suspension of foreign assistance raised global concerns and alarmed many African developing countries, which depended heavily on US foreign aid.

In Nigeria, clinics and research centres shut down following President Donald Trump’s executive order on January 20.

MEANWHILE, U.S. stocks tumbled yesterday after President Donald Trump refused to rule out a recession amid market concerns over his tariffs policy.

The S&P 500 was down by more than three per cent on Monday, putting the stock index on track for its worst day of the year, one day after Trump did not rule out the possibility that his aggressive trade policies could cause a recession.

The Canadian province of Ontario put in place retaliatory tariffs on energy it exports to Michigan, Minnesota and New York, and Mr. Trump’s trade war with China intensified as Beijing began imposing retaliatory tariffs on American farm products.