Consider This from NPR

Episode: "U.S. foreign aid changed in 2025 – and it was felt around the world"

Aired: December 26, 2025
Host: Juana Summers
Key Contributors: Fatma Tanis, Gabriela Emanuel, Zach Mack

Overview

This episode examines the sweeping changes made to U.S. foreign aid policy in 2025 under President Trump. With an executive order freezing almost all international assistance and a subsequent State Department "pause" on funding, the U.S. halted billions in foreign aid. The episode explores how these decisions rippled across aid-dependent countries, impacting health programs, refugees, and global perceptions of America. NPR’s correspondents discuss the motivations behind the overhaul, humanize its consequences through personal stories, and describe what the new approach to foreign aid looks like today.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Executive Order and Initial Reactions

• [00:00–01:42]
  • On inauguration night, President Trump signed an executive order freezing most international aid for 90 days.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio expanded this with a memo halting all foreign aid spending and issuing stop work orders.
  • Billions of dollars in programs were suspended, from infrastructure to vaccinations and conflict zone relief.
  • Abby Maxman (Oxfam America): "It's having seismic impacts for the entire global aid system. And really, frankly, it's a cruel decision that has life or death consequences for millions of people around the world." [00:47]

2. Immediate Global Impact

• [01:19–02:04]
  • Programs targeting neglected tropical diseases in countries like Mali shut down.
  • Mamadou Kouybali (Mali Ministry of Health): "It was like a thunderbolt. This lack of financing has stopped our activities." [01:19]
  • Countries attempted to fill funding gaps but could not fully compensate, risking a resurgence of preventable diseases.
  • In southwest Uganda, refugees reduced food purchases after U.S. funding for the UN World Food Program ceased.
  • Dean Carlin (anti-poverty economist): "Because of the cutbacks in aid, there was less economic activity going on. The markets were not as thriving..." [01:58]

3. Changing Landscape of U.S. Foreign Assistance

• [02:06–04:04]
  • By the end of the Trump administration’s first year, some aid resumed but at much-reduced levels.
  • The overhaul has long-term consequences for those needing help and for America’s global reputation.

4. Global Shock and Policy Motivations

• [04:04–05:25]
  • Gabriela Emanuel: "Reaction globally was what at the beginning, total shock. Some people we spoke to called this kind of a cataclysmic event." [04:10]
  • Fatma Tanis explains: The Trump administration viewed foreign aid as unnecessary, costly, and at odds with “America First” ideals. Critics labeled USAID as advancing a “woke agenda.” [04:27]
  • Max Primorak (Heritage Foundation): "We were spending money every year. It was never changing. We weren't solving problems. We were not putting Africans in the lead." [05:25]
  • The administration wanted to dismantle and rebuild foreign aid to align with conservative ideologies and economic goals.

5. Catastrophic Human Impact

• [05:40–08:19]
  • Reports from Zambia and elsewhere revealed clinic closures and loss of life-saving medications.
  • Gabriela Emanuel: "One woman ... her son had died because their US funded hospital had closed. Another whose baby had died because she could no longer get the treatment for severe malnutrition." [06:05]
  • Specifically, HIV clinics established under PEPFAR (started by George W. Bush) shut down, leaving patients without meds overnight.
  • Human story: Teresa Mwanza and her 10-year-old daughter in Zambia ran out of HIV medication when their clinic closed, leading to visible decline in the daughter’s health. [07:01–07:28]
  • "This is not an isolated event. I met many others who this was happening to as well..." [07:28]
  • Alarming statistic: "One study ... found that this is the first year this century that child deaths under age 5 went up instead of down. And that is directly due to aid cuts." [08:19]

6. Erosion of U.S. Global Image

• [08:19–09:51]
  • Loss of aid confused and disappointed many in countries that had relied on American support.
  • Fatma Tanis: "I saw that when I was in Uganda in August and there was confusion about why the US a global superpower ... would suddenly stop giving money." [08:51]
  • Okot Bosco (South Sudanese refugee): "America benefits, but they don't know that they are benefiting. They benefit. They trust people, trust them so much." [09:34]
  • U.S. aid was seen as building goodwill, trust, and projecting 'soft power' abroad.

7. The New Model: Direct Government Partnerships & Business

• [09:51–11:00]
  • The U.S. now prioritizes working directly with foreign governments, supporting American businesses and faith-based organizations, departing from the previous focus on NGOs and nonprofit partners.
  • Example: $150 million grant to American drone company Zipline to expand deliveries of health supplies in Africa.
  • Max Primorak: "This administration is being a far better steward of American taxpayer monies than previous administrations were. So it's recognizing we have a debt, recognizing that we have to be effective around the world with less and taking the steps to do so." [10:42]

8. Glimmer of Hope: Local Government Response

• [11:00–11:28]
  • The Zambian government, upon hearing NPR’s reporting, intervened to ensure that certain communities regained access to HIV medication.
  • Gabriela Emanuel: "The Zambian government heard our reporting...made sure that they could access their HIV meds. It's a small number of people, relatively speaking, but it was a good sign." [11:09]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Abby Maxman (Oxfam America) [00:47]:
  "It's having seismic impacts for the entire global aid system. And really, frankly, it's a cruel decision that has life or death consequences for millions of people around the world."

• Mamadou Kouybali (Mali Ministry of Health) [01:19]:
  "It was like a thunderbolt. This lack of financing has stopped our activities."

• Dean Carlin (Economist) [01:58]:
  "Because of the cutbacks in aid, there was less economic activity going on. The markets were not as thriving..."

• Gabriela Emanuel [04:10]:
  "Reaction globally was what at the beginning, total shock. Some people we spoke to called this kind of a cataclysmic event."

• Max Primorak (Heritage Foundation) [05:25]:
  "We were spending money every year. It was never changing. We weren't solving problems. We were not putting Africans in the lead."

• Gabriela Emanuel (on Zambian clinic closures) [07:01–07:28]:
  "I was with them at their house. The little girl was confused about what was happening...the daughter was already showing visible signs of the virus of HIV returning because she wasn't on her meds."

• Okot Bosco (South Sudanese refugee) [09:34]:
  "America benefits, but they don't know that they are benefiting. They benefit. They trust people, trust them so much."

• Max Primorak (Heritage Foundation) [10:42]:
  "This administration is being a far better steward of American taxpayer monies than previous administrations were...recognizing that we have to be effective around the world with less and taking the steps to do so."

• Gabriela Emanuel (on Zambian government action) [11:09]:
  "The Zambian government heard our reporting...and made sure that they could access their HIV meds. It's a small number of people, relatively speaking, but it was a good sign."

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–01:42: Executive order and global aid freeze, initial humanitarian fallout
• 01:42–02:04: On-the-ground consequences in Mali and Uganda
• 04:10: Global “shock” at the announcement
• 05:25: Conservative rationale for the policy overhaul
• 06:05–07:28: Personal stories of loss, clinic closures, health emergencies
• 08:19: Rise in child mortality directly linked to aid cuts
• 09:34: Reflections from an aid recipient on American trust and influence
• 10:01: New direct-government partnership approach to aid
• 11:09: Positive local government reaction following NPR’s reporting

Tone and Language

The podcast conversation is urgent, empathetic, and fact-driven, amplifying firsthand stories and expert analysis while holding policy decisions accountable. Reporting is clear-eyed about the devastation caused while highlighting resilience and adaptive responses in affected countries.

Summary Takeaways

• The unprecedented foreign aid freeze and overhaul under President Trump’s 2025 administration caused severe humanitarian disruptions, reversing decades of health and development progress.
• Rationale for the cuts was rooted in “America First” politics and a conservative agenda, sparking both controversy and strategic shifts toward direct government and business involvement.
• The fallout was immediate and far-reaching: healthcare systems crumbled, diseases resurged, and humanitarian aid vanished.
• Resentment, confusion, and loss of goodwill replaced the trust and positive influence the U.S. had built abroad.
• The episode powerfully humanizes policy impacts and raises challenging questions about America’s future role and reputation in the world.