U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said "no one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. But in Myanmar, families tell The Associated Press their loved ones have died as a direct result of the aid cuts. In one case, the father of a 2-year-old boy says his son died in May of malnutrition after the family's food rations stopped arriving as a result of the aid cuts. In more than 60 interviews, the AP documented widespread suffering across Myanmar because of the U.S. decision. Children are screaming and crying for food. Health care services have been hobbled. The sick and the starving have wasted away, and people must forage for hours in the jungle each day to find food.
President Donald Trump has told House Speaker Mike Johnson he won't be spending $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, effectively cutting the budget without going through the legislative branch. The Republican president is using what's known as a pocket rescission — when a president submits a request to Congress to not spend approved funds toward the end of the fiscal year, so Congress cannot act on the request in a 45-day time frame and the money goes unspent as a result. It's the first time in nearly 50 years a president has used one. Trump's move has drawn backlash in the Senate. The fiscal year draws to a close at the end of September.
By JOSEPH WILSON and EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press
Many of the world's nations, but not the United States, gathered on Monday in Spain to tackle the growing gap between rich and poor nations. They will try to drum up trillions of dollars needed to close it. Many countries face escalating debt burdens, declining investments, decreasing international aid and increasing trade barriers. Co-hosts the U.N. and Spain believe the meeting is an opportunity to close the staggering $4 trillion annual financing gap to promote development and bring millions of people out of poverty. More than 70 world leaders are attending. The U.S. pulled out of the process earlier this month.
President Donald Trump bid farewell to Elon Musk in the Oval Office. The billionaire entrepreneur is ending his work in the administration on Friday. He had spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, to slash federal spending. However, Musk fell far short of his targets and struggled in the unfamiliar environment of Washington. Thousands of people were laid off or pushed out of their jobs while litigation piled up. Musk plans to go back to running his companies, including Tesla and SpaceX. He's also said he'll curtail political spending after becoming Trump's biggest donor in last year's presidential campaign.
Infant twins suffered from malnutrition in Nigeria. One died shortly after the Trump administration sharply cut funding for the United States Agency for International Development. USAID for years had been the backbone of the humanitarian response in northeastern Nigeria. It helped non-government organizations provide food, shelter and healthcare to millions of people under threat from Boko Haram militants. Now programs to feed hungry children are closing. A former USAID chief nutritionist predicts 163,500 additional deaths per year worldwide as treatment for severe malnutrition is limited. The mother in Nigeria cradles the surviving twin and says, "I don't want to bury another child."
By FARNOUSH AMIRI and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has unveiled a massive overhaul of the State Department. The plans revealed Tuesday would eventually reduce staff in the U.S. by 15% while closing and consolidating more than 100 bureaus worldwide as part of the Trump administration's "America First" mandate. The reorganization plan, announced by Rubio on social media and detailed in documents obtained by The Associated Press, is the latest effort by the White House to reimagine U.S. foreign policy. Plans include consolidating 734 bureaus and offices to 602 as well as transitioning 137 offices "to another location within the Department to increase efficiency."
By SAMY MAGDY, RIAZAT BUTT and ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has reversed cuts in emergency food aid to several nations but maintained them in Afghanistan and Yemen, two of the world's poorest countries. It marks the latest round of abrupt cancellations of foreign aid contracts run through the U.S. Agency for International Development and equally sudden reversals. The U.S. initially cut funding for projects in more than a dozen countries. The State Department confirmed Wednesday it reversed the cuts for emergency food programs in Somalia, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Ecuador. The status of funding for six other countries is unclear. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says she wants to see funding restored.
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press
Updated
The Trump administration has notified the World Food Program and other partners it has terminated some of the last remaining lifesaving humanitarian programs across the Middle East. A U.S. Agency for International Development official told The Associated Press on Monday about 60 letters canceling contracts were sent over the past week, including to the World Food Program. A United Nations official says the World Food Program received termination letters for Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. The USAID official says U.S. funding for key programs in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe also is affected, including for programs providing food, water, medical care and shelter for people displaced by war. The State Department hasn't commented.
By CHRIS MEGERIAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
President Donald Trump's own words keep getting used against him in court while he faces lawsuits challenging his aggressive agenda. The situation shows how the Republican president's shoot-from-the-lip-style has undermined his administration's legal positions. Nowhere has this been clearer than in cases involving Trump's adviser Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, the driving force in his efforts to downsize and overhaul the federal government. The latest example came this week, when U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang cited Trump's public remarks in a ruling that Musk had likely violated the Constitution by dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development. Chuang is based in Maryland and was appointed by President Barack Obama,
By DAVID RISING and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Associated Press
A multiyear cleanup at a former U.S. air base in Vietnam was abruptly halted when the Trump administration cut funding, leaving tons of dioxin-contaminated soil exposed. The freeze also affected efforts to clear unexploded munitions, assist victims of Agent Orange, and and other war legacy remediation efforts. Although funding was partially restored, uncertainty and confusion over the goodwill projects' future threatens to harm the trust built over decades between the former foes. It comes at a time when Vietnam is of growing strategic importance to the U.S. as Washington pushes back at increasing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.
