Starvation and disease: Trump and the GOP are wrecking the world

President Donald Trump’s “America first” approach means decimation globally—and particularly in Africa. 

After taking office, the president quickly hollowed out the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is the main foreign aid organization in the government. In July, USAID officially shut its doors.

“We’re not cutting foreign aid. We’re just realigning it toward this administration’s values,” said one State Department spokesperson. But that’s mostly a lie. The administration is clawing back billions.

At home, this has meant thousands of employees out of work, while those left standing have been taken in by the State Department. But elsewhere in the world?

Earlier this week, a federal appeals court allowed the Trump administration to kill $6 billion for HIV/AIDS programs and $4 billion for global health programs. Other cuts have been allowed too. And when the well started to dry up, certain African countries were quickly sent into crisis. 

“The impact is severe and immediate,” said Dr. Allen Maina, the chief of public health at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 

For example, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is running out of water and medical supplies. And in Ethiopia, children were being released from medical facilities “abruptly or prematurely,” he added, due to a lack of staffing and resources. 

“This is a crisis on top of a longstanding situation of low funding for humanitarian situations,” he said.

Crises abound. In war-ridden Sudan, 1,700 food kitchens closed their doors to the hungry and desperate, due primarily to USAID cuts and eliminated federal contracts. And to the west, hundreds of Nigerian children are dying of malnutrition as the U.S. and other countries pull back their resources. 

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have begun to show Americans where they plan to focus foreign aid instead. 

Late last month, Rubio announced $60 million in foreign aid heading to the Philippines. A government press release said the funds would support “energy, maritime, and economic growth programs” with a country the U.S. has strong economic ties to.

Daily Kos reached out to the State Department for comment but did not immediately hear back.

To the Trump administration, “America first” seems to mean that countries are deserving of aid only if they can provide something in return. But as the U.S. and other countries pull back more and more help from those in need, the lives lost—more than the money saved—are already tallying up.