Washington, D.C. — President Donald Trump is moving toward shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a vital agency that works around the world to alleviate poverty, treat diseases, and provide critical food aid—efforts that help promote democracy building and boost America’s interests. In response, Patrick Gaspard, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
Donald Trump may wish he was a king, but that’s not how American government works. The administration knows that it has zero authority to eliminate USAID, which would require an act of Congress. Shuttering the USAID office is an act of political theater that will cost lives, harm U.S. interests, and strengthen America’s adversaries. Every day, USAID does real work that not only benefits millions of people abroad, but millions of Americans here at home by containing the spread of diseases, preventing terrorism, and helping stop human trafficking. While Trump doesn’t have a magic wand to make USAID disappear, this illegal attack on foreign assistance shows that his “America First” agenda is actually to put America’s security behind his own interests and those of his billionaire donors.
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