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USAID officially ceases operations, disrupting global aid delivery

Global Times

By Shen Sheng Published: Jul 02, 2025 10:40 AM

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the official end of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on Tuesday, after rapidly dismantling the government's foreign aid arm since President Donald Trump's return to the White House, the Hill reported.

Founded in 1961 as John F. Kennedy sought to leverage aid to win over the developing world in the Cold War, the USAID has now been incorporated into the State Department, according to the AFP.

In a statement marking the transfer of USAID to the State Department as part of President Trump's unprecedented push to shrink the federal government, Rubio said the US was abandoning what he called a charity-based model and would focus on empowering countries to grow sustainably, Reuters reported.

Reuters cited Rubio's claim that this new model would prioritize trade over aid and investment over assistance, adding that it would put Washington in a stronger position to counter Beijing.

USAID's official shutdown comes following a study published Monday in the Lancet Medical journal projecting that more than 14 million additional deaths could occur globally as a result of the US aid reductions, including 4.5 million deaths among children, per Hill's report.

CNN, citing The Lancet, reported that "Unlike those events, however, this crisis would stem from a conscious and avoidable policy choice — one whose burden would fall disproportionately on children and younger populations, and whose consequences could reverberate for decades."

Former US presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush made rare public criticisms of the US administration as they took part in a video farewell for USAID staffers on Monday on its last day as an independent organization, according to the Guardian.

Li Ming, a spokesperson for the China International Development Cooperation Agency, told the Global Times on Friday that major powers should take up their international responsibilities and obligations, and avoid letting these policy changes create difficulties or disruptions for the international community — especially for developing countries striving to achieve the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Foreign aid should not be treated as a battlefield for great-power rivalry, but as a platform for global cooperation, Li said, further noting that some developed countries ignore pressing development challenges, fail to meet their aid commitments and walk away from the consensus on international cooperation.

"Trying to shift blame and evade responsibility goes against the tide of history — and such efforts are bound to fail," Li added.