US halts foreign aid, exempting 'Israel' and Egypt
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An internal memo to US State Department staff specifically exempts military aid to "Israel" and Egypt from the Washington decision.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves to employees upon arriving at the State Department in Washington, on January 21, 2025. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered a near-total halt to US foreign aid, with explicit exceptions for military funding to "Israel" and Egypt, The Guardian reported citing an internal State Department memo.
“No new funds shall be obligated for new awards or extensions of existing awards until each proposed new award or extension has been reviewed and approved…as consistent with President Trump’s agenda,” the memo stated.
This broad directive appears to encompass all forms of aid, from development assistance to military support, potentially including Ukraine.
Ukraine has received billions in weapons under President Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, to counter Russia.
Why it matters
The memo, however, specifically exempts military aid to "Israel"—whose arms packages from the US expanded significantly during the war on Gaza—and Egypt, which has benefited from substantial defense funding since signing a peace treaty with "Israel" in 1979.
On his first day in office, Trump issued a 90-day freeze on foreign development assistance to evaluate its alignment with his foreign policy and efficiency goals. However, the full scope of the order remains unclear, and questions persist about its legality, as Congress controls the federal budget.
“Freezing these international investments will lead our international partners to seek other funding partners—likely US competitors and adversaries—to fill this hole and displace the United States’ influence the longer this unlawful impoundment continues,” a source familiar with Congressional discussions, speaking anonymously, said as quoted by The Guardian.
The State Department memo instructed senior officials to ensure that “to the maximum extent permitted by law, no new obligations shall be made for foreign assistance” until Rubio completes a review. It also called for immediate stop-work orders on existing projects until further evaluation.
“This is manufactured chaos,” said a former senior official from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Organizations will have to stop all activities, so all lifesaving health services, HIV/Aids, nutrition, maternal and child health, all agriculture work, all support of civil society organizations, education,” he told The Guardian.
A USAID officer confirmed that projects in Ukraine, including school support and emergency health care such as maternal services and vaccinations, have been paused.
Driving the news
Rubio will decide over the next 85 days whether to continue, modify, or terminate programs, with the ability to grant waivers during the review period. According to the memo, he has already approved a waiver for emergency food assistance and foreign military financing for "Israel" and Egypt, as well as administrative expenses necessary to manage this funding.
"Israel" currently receives approximately $3.3 billion annually in foreign military financing, while Egypt receives $1.3 billion. Other countries slated for such financing in 2025 include Ukraine, Georgia, the Baltic states, Taiwan, Indonesia, and several others, per a request made by Biden’s administration.
The freeze comes at a time of increased humanitarian aid to Gaza following a ceasefire between "Israel" and the Palestinian Resistance, as well as other global hunger crises, including in Sudan.
