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WASHINGTON — Seven months after the Trump administration shut down the US Agency for International Development, foreign aid is more efficient, effective and America First than ever, according to a senior State Department official.
“American taxpayer dollars are not private charity,” Jeremy Lewin, Foggy Bottom’s man in charge of overseas assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, told The Post in an exclusive interview. “Every dollar of foreign assistance has to advance the American national interest.”
Under the new approach, foreign aid has been yanked from what the administration describes as wasteful programs — including climate and DEI initiatives — and placed directly under State Department control, ensuring it aligns with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s grand strategy.
Donroe Doctrine
For decades, Lewin explained, the US poured tens of billions of dollars into programs with little strategic return, even as China and Russia expanded their influence in the developing world.
“We’d show up and hear, ‘The Russians sell us weapons, the Chinese own our infrastructure — and the Americans send consultants,’” he said. “That wasn’t development, and it wasn’t America First.”
The Trump administration has since terminated scores of programs, freeing up billions to redeploy toward strategic infrastructure, security partnerships and trade — especially in the Western Hemisphere.
A core pillar of the Donroe Doctrine — a term coined by The Post more than one year ago — is preventing adversaries from gaining economic, technological or military footholds in the Americas, a region officials say was neglected by prior administrations.
Before Trump took office, fewer than 10% — sometimes as little as 5% — of the roughly averaged $75 billion annual budget for US foreign assistance went to the Western Hemisphere, according to Lewin.
“That’s astonishing when you think about our own neighborhood,” he said.
Now, the administration is pouring money into Latin America and the Caribbean to counter Chinese communications, AI and infrastructure projects.
The driving force behind Beijing’s efforts is Chinese telecom giant Huawei, which Washington is trying to drive out of strategic countries. The State Department also wants to block Chinese AI platforms from embedding themselves in regional governments and help American companies secure contracts instead.
“Not in our hemisphere,” one senior administration official said, summing up the Donroe Doctrine.
‘America First’ foreign aid
Rather than routing aid through NGOs, the administration is partnering directly with US firms to deliver services abroad while strengthening American industry.
In West Africa, the State Department signed a $150 million deal with California-based Zipline to deliver medical supplies across five countries, defeating a Chinese competitor for the contract.
“That one deal kept the Chinese out,” a senior administration official said. “And it put an American company first.”
Similar efforts are underway across Latin America and the Indo-Pacific as the administration treats foreign aid more like a venture capital fund — making targeted investments designed to unlock strategic returns.
The administration has also overhauled global health programs, including the George W. Bush-era President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), shifting from NGO-run parallel healthcare systems toward national systems run by friendly governments.
Under the new model, countries must co-invest in their own healthcare infrastructure, integrate HIV treatment into national systems and reduce long-term dependence on US funding.
So far, the US has signed at least 16 new health compacts — with more in the pipeline — requiring foreign governments to match US investment, in some cases doubling their healthcare spending as a share of GDP.
“We’re restoring health sovereignty,” Lewin said. “Self-reliance is America First.”
‘We were getting fleeced’
The most prominent target of Trump’s foreign aid reset is the United Nations, which officials say operated with little oversight while consuming billions of US dollars.
A new agreement signed last month consolidates US humanitarian funding into a single UN framework, reducing duplication and increasing accountability.
“We were getting fleeced,” Lewin said. “Now we’re paying our fair share — and not a dollar more.”
Despite warnings from critics, the administration says disaster response has improved under the State Department–led system.
When Category 5 Hurricane Melissa hit the Caribbean last fall, US teams delivered nearly 1 million pounds of aid and $40 million in direct assistance — often arriving before the Chinese could.
“The first thing people saw were American helicopters,” Lewin said. “That’s America First leadership.”
The administration estimates it has saved tens of billions of dollars by cutting wasteful programs, and reducing contributions to international organizations — including roughly $9 billion through rescissions and $5 billion from UN cuts.
Those savings are being redirected toward strategic priorities — from countering China in Latin America and the Indo-Pacific to supporting Trump’s landmark peace deals abroad.
“This is the Donroe Doctrine in action,” Lewin said. “Foreign aid that strengthens America, secures our hemisphere and puts our competitors on notice.”
English (US)