President Donald Trump has long pledged to put America first and protect the interests of its people above all concerns. In his well-received Address to the Joint Session of Congress, Trump boldly reiterated that he does not represent the world but only America. The consistent campaign promise and pronouncements are a strong indication of a foreign policy shift for the Trump administration. It comes as no surprise then the recent report that the White House is planning to propose dramatic cuts to U.S. foreign aid as early as end of March.
White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Mich Mulvaney confirmed that the reductions will be quite significant because the administration would rather spend the money in the country. Mulvaney further said that as early as mid-March, they will be ready to roll out the full spending budget.
Mulvaney was quick to clarify, however, that the proposed cuts will not specifically target a particular region or country to be affected by the aid reductions. He said the planned change in the aid program may actually bear impact on different countries. Mulvaney stressed that their plan and message are both simple and straight-forward: there would be less American budget for overseas people and in contrast, there would be more money spent for people in the U.S. instead.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the Trump administration is proposing more than 30% cut to the budgets of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development ( USAID). The said agencies collectively received around $50 billion for the current fiscal year prepared by the past administration. The expected cuts to foreign aid will help in turn fund the proposed increase in the military budget instead. President Trump has passionately promised to rebuild the U.S. military.
Source :
http://thehill.com/policy/international/322383-white-house-to-propose-large-cuts-to-foreign-aid
