One of Trump's deadliest decisions: 'Millions of lives wiped out with a signature'
October 30 2025
5 minutes
Earlier this year, Donald Trump decided to almost completely dismantle USAID, the agency responsible for American development cooperation. With the elimination of over 83 percent of its programs, international solidarity was dealt a severe blow. Experts say this is one of the deadliest decisions the president has ever made, with millions of people facing deaths from a lack of humanitarian aid and protection.
“My daughter is dead because of austerity,” Valentine Tusifu tells The New York Times. Valentine is a 36-year-old refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo and is currently living in Uganda. She is mourning her 10-year-old daughter Jibia who died from malaria, a disease that is easily treatable with proper prevention and care.
But the budget cuts left Jibia and the local healthcare system in the lurch. Her mother recounted in The New York Times how every link in the healthcare chain was failing. There was no money to replace broken mosquito nets, no essential medicines, no ambulance driver, and no blood transfusions. Jibia died due to the lack of international resources on which the system had been built for years.
Valentine Tusifu: “People are dying every day and every night.” Yet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims that no children are dying under his administration, but Jibia's story is not an isolated one. American physician Nichols, a specialist in infectious diseases, developed the Impact Counter tool, which since the end of US development aid, the rise in deaths has been trackingThe count already stands at more than 180.000 adults and nearly 382.000 children who have died this year.
America first, humanity last
For years, the US was one of the largest donors to international organizations. Since early 2025, five thousand USAID contracts have suddenly been terminated based on Trump's "America First" agenda. This means that 83% of USAID programs have been cut.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the measure as follows: "The contracts that have now been canceled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve the interests of the United States." What exactly those interests are remains unclear. But it is clear that humanitarian needs not a priority more. And this while international development cooperation barely accounted for 1 percent of the total federal budget.
According to a study in The Lancet, USAID initiatives helped more than 91 million deaths to preventFurthermore, overall mortality decreased by 15%, HIV/AIDS-related mortality by 65%, and malaria mortality by 51%.
Those successes are now completely turning into disasters. The same study from The Lancet estimates that the cuts by 2030 could lead to more than 14 million deaths, including 4,5 million children under the age of five. According to the researchers, the impact of austerity measures on many low- and middle-income countries is comparable to a global pandemic or a large-scale armed conflict. "Unlike those events, however, this crisis would stem from a deliberate and avoidable policy choice," they conclude.
Global consequences of famine and AIDS
“The famine in Gaza has focused international attention on the horrors of famine, but less attention has been paid to a broader issue,” says New York Times journalist Apoorva Mandavilli. “The dismantling of USAID has exacerbated the problem of severe hunger and malnutrition around the world.” As Mandavilli rightly points out, it is no tragic coincidence that the global famine increases due to the cuts to USAID. It is a policy choice with deadly and inhumane consequences.
Until recently, USAID funded half of the therapeutic feeding for children with severe malnutrition. With the discontinuation of support, millions of children without life-saving resourcesIn Congo, where USAID was the largest donor, Action Against Hunger is already reporting deaths from hunger. "There is so little funding that aid workers are having to reduce or stop their work," says country director Florian Monnerie. "This puts thousands of people at risk."
Also the fight against AIDS is being hit hard. The PEPFAR program, launched under President George W. Bush, has saved an estimated 26 million lives since 2003. That policy is now being phased out. According to Impact Counter, this year alone, 120.000 additional HIV-related deaths "One woman, Denise Mukamusoni, tearfully told me she stopped taking her AIDS medication because she had no food to take it with," journalist Nicholas Kristof told The New York Times from Uganda. "From South Sudan to Sierra Leone, people are getting sick and dying because the health system is collapsing. Even those who are still receiving medication often have no food to take it with."
While the impact of austerity will be felt first beyond US borders, The United States is also experiencing the impact of its austerity policiesThis is what Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, writes in an opinion piece for Common Dreams. “When food systems collapse, migration increases. When vaccines disappear, diseases spread. There is no such thing as global instability in which the US remains unscathed,” he argues. According to De Schutter, the America First agenda also risks shooting itself in the foot.
A country that dismantles solidarity not only loses lives and human rights on the other side of the world, but also its credibility.
American policy has echoes in Belgium
The lesson we learn from USAID is clear: saving on solidarity means saving on humanityBelgium also seems to be heading in the same direction. For years, the United States spent one percent of its federal budget on development cooperation, representing barely 0,2 percent of gross national income. Belgium currently spends 0,4 percent of national income. This is already below the 0,7% agreed upon at the UN level, to which our country once committed.
Still, cuts are being made in the budget for development cooperation. “The Flemish government recently announced, without prior consultation, that it no longer considers international solidarity as a core task,” says 11.11.11-expert Griet Ysewyn. “Some are also calling for additional savings at the federal level, less than a year after a heavy reduction of 25 percent was announced. Increasingly, policymakers are reporting the deterioration of health systems, education, and stability worldwide.”
According to 11.11.11 threatens Belgium not being alone in that international commitments to be neglected, but also to weaken its position in the international community. "A country that diminishes solidarity not only loses lives and human rights on the other side of the world, but also its credibility," says Ysewyn. "Anyone who is no longer a partner in humanity is no longer seen as a reliable ally."
