WASHINGTON \u2014 Speaking on a background briefing call this morning, a senior administration official told reporters to expect a “large reduction in foreign aid” in President Trump\u2019s first budget proposal.<\/p>\n
In reaction, Tom Hart, ONE\u2019s executive director for North America, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhile we certainly expected the Administration to include cuts to State and USAID in its first budget proposal, it\u2019s alarming that the White House appears to be elevating the idea of cuts to foreign assistance, in particular, to help pay for its massive funding increase in military spending.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s also especially ironic. If your goal is to increase our national security, cutting our foreign assistance budget is one of the last things you should do. As Defense Secretary Jim Mattis once said, \u2018If you don\u2019t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.\u2019 Strategic development assistance is not charity \u2014 it is security \u2014 and it is in the United States\u2019 clear national interest.<\/p>\n \u201cBombs alone cannot prevent radicalization. Bullets cannot prevent despair from turning into dangerous anger. As our war fighters increasingly turn to development to deter conflicts, the President\u2019s budget appears to be going the wrong direction.\u201d<\/p>\n WASHINGTON \u2014 Speaking on a background briefing call this morning, a senior administration official told reporters to expect a “large reduction in foreign aid” in President Trump\u2019s first budget proposal. In reaction, Tom Hart, ONE\u2019s executive director for North America, said: \u201cWhile we certainly expected the Administration to include cuts to State and USAID in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"contributor":[],"class_list":["post-135428","one_press","type-one_press","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n