Trump Destroyed USAID. Now People Are Dying.

About this episode

The episode discusses the devastating impact of the Trump administration's cuts to USAID on vulnerable populations reliant on international aid.

More To The Story: When Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, went looking for government agencies to axe last year, one of its first targets was the US Agency for International Development. Established during the Cold War to counter Soviet influence, USAID spent billions of dollars on food aid, public health, and emergency relief for some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. In return, the US hoped to gain allies and goodwill. Call it a decades-long exercise in soft power. But since President Donald Trump returned to office, soft power is out. And so is USAID, which has been slashed and reorganized. The Trump administration is trying to close the agency altogether by September. This has led to some horrific consequences for the people who relied on USAID to survive. On this week’s More To The Story , ProPublica’s Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy join host Al Letson to talk about their on-the-ground reporting from Africa and how the Trump administration’s aid cuts are leading to devastating, even deadly, consequences. Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Copy editor: Nikki Frick |…

People in this episode

Host: Al Letson

Guests: Anna Maria Barry-Jester, Brett Murphy

Topics covered

• USAID
• government cuts
• international aid
• Trump administration
• soft power
• public health
• emergency relief

Keywords

• Trump
• USAID cuts
• international aid
• public health
• emergency relief
• soft power
• government efficiency

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: USAID, ProPublica, Mother Jones, Department of Government Efficiency, Project 2025

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