President Donald Trump has a brand new plan to address the devastation caused by his stupid war in Iran.
No, it’s not something sensible, like “enter into negotiations to find a way forward.” It’s just moving money around in the hopes that no one will notice how badly they messed up.
It diverts $125 million in existing foreign aid to lower energy costs, because it turns out that while it’s exciting to see oil and gas companies making billions, a global energy crisis isn’t really something countries enjoy.
Now, moving money per se is not the problem here. Presidents can modify foreign aid in times of emergency. Former President Joe Biden did so in 2022, for example, to provide immediate aid to Ukraine after it was attacked by Russia. This is a true unforeseen emergency that required rapid action, and that’s what it is.
You’ll also notice that Biden’s memo explicitly states which country was receiving aid, just as a 2016 memo from former President Barack Obama clearly stated that aid was being sent to Nigeria.
So who is Trump sending money to? Well, he doesn’t want to tell you.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said only that the funds are needed to “address the urgent energy security needs of partners facing coercive supply outages, market disruptions, and inflated costs.”
Of course, “Partners” is not a country, which makes it seem like the administration is simply taking $125 million and distributing it to countries it sees fit.
How will the money be spent? Trump doesn’t want to tell you either, but it doesn’t seem like “Trump made the price of oil too high with his stupid war and now we need a way to temporarily improve the situation in countries not yet known” is the point of this sentence.
We know that $49 million of that $125 million was allocated by Congress for family planning and contraception in low-income countries. Perhaps coincidentally, the administration was already refusing to spend funds in this area.
“There are no plans to spend this money. We’re not going to do this globally. We’re not going to do it,” Rubio told Congress earlier this year.
Related | Trump rushes to help Russia and mocks everyone
Apparently, our goal is to redirect foreign aid toward funding Trump’s deportation machine, giving millions to El Salvador to house deportees in its violent CECOT prison, for example. We’re also moving aid to Trump’s favorite countries.
Earlier this year, although members of Congress suspended the embezzlement, the Trump administration took money earmarked for Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia and Iraq and gave it to Panama, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
Congress specifically allocated money to Slovakia and North Macedonia as part of a supplemental funding bill intended to help countries affected by Russia’s war in Ukraine. But the State Department decided it didn’t care what Congress did and would spend the money however it saw fit.
“Reprogramming money from the Middle East and Europe to the Western Hemisphere is consistent with the National Security Strategy. Funds used in our region will combat narcoterrorism in our hemisphere and help continue to secure the Panama Canal,” the department said.
In addition to treating foreign aid as his personal piggy bank for dictators, Trump mocks Congress in other ways as well, seizing the power of the purse.
During the government shutdown, Trump decided to illegally pay troops and federal immigration agents with Department of Defense research and development money, which is downright illegal.
Also illegal? Trump withheld more than $1 billion in funds that Congress had allocated to the Environmental Protection Agency and Health and Human Services.
Trump doesn’t believe in climate change or scientific research. So he simply decided not to spend the money intended to reduce pollution, intended for disadvantaged communities or for the HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Congress could end it at any time. He could pass legislation closing the loophole in the foreign aid law that allows transfers in urgent circumstances and requires congressional approval. He could also regain power of the stock market at any time.
But the irresponsible conservatives who hold the reins of power – at least for now – are more than happy to defer to Trump.
This ends on January 3, 2027.
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