Ordered a 90-day pause and review of nearly all U.S. foreign assistance, leading to the effective dismantling of USAID and termination of thousands of aid programs.
Executive order pausing disbursements, followed by mass contract terminations and absorption of remaining functions into the State Department.
Positive impactcontested
Supporters say it ends wasteful or ideologically driven spending abroad.
The administration argued foreign aid should be reciprocal and aligned with U.S. interests; critics dispute how much of the spending was actually wasteful.
Negative impactsubstantiated
The abrupt cutoff disrupted lifesaving health and humanitarian programs, with documented harm.
Stop-work orders hit HIV/PEPFAR, tuberculosis, famine and nutrition programs; on-the-ground reporting (e.g., ProPublica) documented specific deaths and harm tied to the freeze, and federal courts intervened over withheld, congressionally appropriated funds.
Negative impactprojected
Peer-reviewed models project very large excess death tolls.
A 2025 Lancet study estimated roughly 1.8 million excess deaths in 2025 alone (uncertainty range ~1.0-2.5 million) and up to ~14 million cumulatively by 2030 under modeled cut scenarios; lower estimates (e.g., Center for Global Development, ~0.5-1 million in 2025) still point to large-scale harm. The exact toll is modeled and uncertain, but directionally severe.