What is USAID and why does Donald Trump want to put an end to it?

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was established in the early 1960s to administer humanitarian aid programs on behalf of the US government.

It hires about 10,000 people, two of whom works abroad. Maintains bases from more than 60 countries and work in dozens of others – although most of the field works are carried out by other organizations that are contracted and financed by USAID.

The range of activities they carry out is vast. For example, not only does USAID offer food in countries where people starve, but also operate the standard gold hunger detection system, which uses data analysis to try to predict where deficiencies occur.

Much of the USAID budget is spent for health programs, such as providing polio vaccinations in countries where the disease circulates and contributes to stopping the spread of diseases that have the potential to cause a pandemic.

The international BBC Media charity action, which is funded from external subsidies and voluntary contributions, receives some USAID funding. According to a report from 2024, USAID donated USD 3.23 million (2.6 million pounds), which made the second largest donor of charity in that financial year.