Trump Suspends Foreign Aid, Except for Israel and Egypt, for 90 Days

Last week, President Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance pending reviews.

Key Quote: “All department and agency heads with responsibility for United States foreign development assistance programs shall immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds,” the executive order said. “No further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.”

The Details: Trump's order makes exceptions for emergency food and military aid for Israel and Egypt. The order leaves it to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to determine what is aligned with foreign policy. 

For Context: The U.S. has long been the world's largest donor to other countries in terms of dollars, though other countries give more as a percent of their economies. 

How The Media Covered It: The Telegraph (Lean Right bias) focused on Rubio's role in the order, while other outlets focused on quoting Trump's order. The Associated Press (Left) pointed out that while Israel and Egypt aren't likely to see large reductions in aid, the United Nations and Palestinian Authority might: “Funding for U.N. agencies, including peacekeeping, human rights and refugee agencies, have been traditional targets for Republican administrations to slash or otherwise cut. The first Trump administration moved to reduce…payments to various UN agencies, including the U.N. Population Fund, and funding to the Palestinian Authority.”