Tag: foreign aid

Trump to announce huge foreign aid crackdown to protect US interests in Day One executive order

Donald Trump will sign an executive order Monday halting all new foreign aid unless it fits with U.S. strategic goals, according to two incoming senior White House officials.

The aim is to prevent American taxpayers’ cash falling into the hands of groups working against the U.S. or promoting ‘diversity, equity, inclusion’ agendas, for example.

And it will likely immediately halt new U.S. money going to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). 

It is the agency that distributes aid in Gaza but it has repeatedly been accused of close ties to the terror group Hamas. The UN admitted that nine of its staff may been involved in the  Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

‘The United States and American citizens have been some of the most generous people in the entire world,’ an incoming White House policy adviser told DailyMail.com. 

‘But at this point, we have to understand that foreign policy is domestic policy, and if this is not aligned with our interests, then Uncle Sam should not be opening up his pocketbook any longer.’

The executive order comes among the first to be signed by Trump after being sworn into office for a second term.

It signals his desire to bring foreign aid spending into line with his America First policy agenda and to sync it with the work of the State Department.

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Vital LA Firefighting Equipment Was Handed To Ukraine, Reports Show, As Americans Now Caught In Raging Inferno

As of Wednesday afternoon the fast-moving, wind-driven fires sweeping through the Los Angeles areaare still zero percent contained, resulting in ongoing evacuations for 50,000+ residents.

Hundreds of thousands of residential and commercial locations have been left without power in the LA area as the natural disaster has become so large in proportion that it has captured the nation’s attention. Many have been naturally focused on ‘thoughts and prayers’ for heroic LA and California firefighters, and their hoped-for ability to push back the raging inferno. But several local headlines from prior years make clear that area firefighters could have had more resources to draw from, if significant emergency response supplies and items weren’t sent to Zelensky…

“Los Angeles County fire crews are sending some of their extra equipment to firefighters in Ukraine,” a local March 2022 story reads. “The plane carrying that much-needed surplus equipment, such as hoses, nozzles, turnouts, helmets, body armor and other personal protective gear, is expected to take off Friday.”

This began in the opening months of the Russian invasion, and appears to have continued at various times over the last couple years, with large expensive items like firetrucks having been shipped oversees as well.

Putting America “Ukraine first” is the Biden bad foreign policy idea that keeps on giving… and taking away from American citizens caught in the throes of emergency and disaster

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US Eases Restrictions For Syria In ‘Signal Of Goodwill’ To New Islamist Rulers

The US is planning to announce an easing of restrictions on providing humanitarian aid and other basic services such as electricity to Syria while still keeping crushing economic sanctions on the country in place, Reuters reported on Monday.

Reuters noted the “decision by the outgoing Biden administration will send a signal of goodwill to Syria’s new Islamist rulers and aims to pave the way for improving tough living conditions in the war-ravaged country while treading cautiously and keeping US leverage in place.”

Syria’s new government, led by extremist militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is calling for the lifting of the US sanctions, which impoverished Syria and prevented reconstruction after the end of the Syria war in 2019.

Washington is so far refusing to lift sanctions, despite its longtime support for HTS and its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani), a former deputy to slain ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Previously known as the Nusra Front, HTS was the official Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria. The group enjoyed support from the US, Israel, Qatar, and Turkiye, which sought to use the group to topple the Syrian government led by former president Bashar al-Assad starting in 2011.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration approved the easing of restrictions over the weekend, saying the move authorizes the Treasury Department to issue waivers to aid groups and companies providing essentials such as water, electricity, and other humanitarian supplies.

The US-funded Syrian opposition group, the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), and other Syrian activists lobbied heavily for the US to impose the sanctions, claiming they would only hurt Assad and other top Syrian officials, not Syrian civilians.

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Homeless crisis in America GETTING WORSE as government continues to spend hundreds of billions on foreign aid

Homelessness in the United States has hit a record high, with over 770,000 people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2024, according to the 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

This represents an alarming 18 percent increase from the previous year, and the actual number may be even higher because the report undercounts the true number of homeless individuals.

This crisis is particularly devastating for families with children, who saw a staggering 39 percent increase in homelessness, leaving nearly 150,000 children without stable housing. In contrast, the report shows a 55 percent reduction in veteran homelessness since 2009, with an eight percent decrease from 2023. (Related: Study finds home ownership in California has become increasingly unattainable due to disparities between wages and housing prices.)

This development is notable because of how it is contrasted with how much the United States has spent on other programs, such as foreign aid.

To date, the U.S. has provided about $310 billion in economic and military support to Israel and another $106 billion in assistance to Ukraine. These staggering numbers raise serious questions about the government’s priorities and its ability to address domestic issues like homelessness.

The report highlights that certain demographics are disproportionately affected by homelessness. Black people make up around 32 percent of the homeless population, despite comprising only 12 percent of the U.S. population. Veterans, who have seen the most progress in reducing homelessness, are a notable exception. The decline in veteran homelessness is attributed to targeted programs and efforts to quickly house homeless veterans.

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Biden White House to Give Another $2.5 Billion to Ukraine – After a $1.25 Billion Donation on Friday!

Joe Biden’s handlers announced another $2.5 billion will be gifted to Ukraine.

Today’s multi-billion dollar donation included an additional $1.25 billion drawdown package for the Ukrainian military and a $1.22 billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package.

Biden’s handlers are hoping to escalated the Russia-Ukrainian conflict before the senile Democrat leaves office.

Who’s up for World War III?

The Biden team announced the latest donation early Monday morning on the White House website.

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Black Money, Black Flags: How USAID Paved the Way for Syria’s Militant Takeover

As the designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) establishes its proto-government in Idlib, notoriously corrupt NGOs are stepping in to fill the gaps in public services, with some even defecting to work alongside the group.

The United States, which spent two decades and $5.4 trillion overthrowing governments hostile to al-Qaeda, now finds itself in a paradoxical position. Modern al-Qaeda has carved out its own quasi-state in Syria, yet remains on the U.S. list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. To characterize this as a foreign policy misstep would be reductive; the U.S. has actively facilitated HTS’s conquest of parts of Syria while maintaining its official terrorist designation.

For the past five years, HTS, an al-Qaeda offshoot, has sought to rehabilitate its image. Its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani—a former high-ranking member of both ISIS and al-Qaeda—has led a calculated charm offensive, attempting to rebrand the group from one focused on violence and minority persecution to a more palatable local governance entity.

Since establishing HTS and a proto-government called the Syrian Salvation Government, or SSG, the group’s leader, al-Jolani has expended a good deal of energy talking about topics intended to normalize the idea of a-Qaeda’s statehood; things like ‘institutions,’ and ‘structures.’ This, coupled with al-Jolani’s sudden embrace of Syria’s diverse tapestry of minority groups, has made up the main pillars of the terror group’s rebrand. Al-Jolani himself credits the establishment of quasi-state structures for the group’s sudden success in taking over Syria.

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US to Withhold Aid to Sierra Leone over Abortion

US foreign aid agency called the Millennium Challenge Corporation is threatening to withhold aid from Sierra Leone if the nation fails to legalize abortion. There is no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to politics or business. Now, $480 million in aid is on the line, all in the name of abortion. What gives the US moral grounds to tell other nations how to live?

The US organization believes that the African nation must pass the Safe Motherhood Act to permit abortions up to 14 weeks for any reason. Parliament passed the Safe Abortion Act in 2015, permitting abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. President Julius Maada Bio seems willing to expand these laws despite pushback. The Inter Religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL) composed of Christians and Muslims have been opposing extending abortion laws.

“It is deeply disturbing, but not terribly surprising, that we are hearing reports that the Biden administration is threatening to withhold foreign assistance to Sierra Leone unless legislators there pass the deceptively named ‘Safe Motherhood Act’ legislation that would legalize abortion in Sierra Leone, a country that currently protects unborn life,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said in a statement first shared with The Daily Signal. Sierra Leone could certainly use the funding, and this ploy is bending the will of desperate people.

So ahead of Trump, the Biden Administration is demanding that a predominately Muslim (78.5%) country abandon its religious beliefs and cave to their demands. The issue is not abortion but that the US is threatening to withhold aid from a vulnerable nation if it does not comply. We see this happen with countless issues throughout African nations as developed nations believe they can use money to shift their societies as they see fit.

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Rand Paul ‘Festivus’ grievances: US millions for Ukraine TikTokers

Every December 23, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) releases a “Festivus Report” based on the spoof holiday featured in the 1990s television show “Seinfeld.” On this made-up holiday, people would engage in an annual “airing of grievances,” and when it comes to wasteful government spending, each year Paul always has a very long list of beefs.

But this year, in finding over $1 trillion in wasteful, stupid spending, like $12 million for a pickleball complex, $15 million in new furniture for empty federal offices, $873,000 for film making in Jordan, and over $400,000 to study lonely rats, there appears to be some substantial spending related to Washington’s ongoing role in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Th 2024 ‘Festivus Report’ reveals that, “despite American taxpayers providing nearly $174 billion in aid and military assistance to Kyiv since the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine, someone over at State thought it was a brilliant idea to drop an additional $4.8 Million for ‘KYIV, Ukraine public affairs – Influencer Staff.’”

That’s right. Apparently the U.S. government was bankrolling Ukrainian TikTokers and Instagram personalities. To the tune of $4.8 million.

From Paul’s report:

“Apparently, what we really need in a war zone are more Instagram stories and TikTok dances. The dangers here are more than just cringeworthy content; this kind of spending opens the door to disinformation, propaganda, and international PR disasters. And don’t even get me started on the potential to escalate tensions with other nations.”

Sen. Paul proceeds to mock the funding’s aim: “after all, nothing says ‘peacekeeping’ like a viral video.”

More “Festivus” airing of the grievances: “But the absurdity doesn’t end there. The State Department also splurged $15,220 on an ‘influencers event’ and another $22,231 on a ‘USAID Social Media Influencers Campaign.”

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U.S. Taxpayers Kicked in $11.5 Billion for Global Vaccine Program Targeting Low-income Countries

U.S. taxpayers are the largest contributor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the public-private partnership dedicated to expanding vaccine distribution and uptake in lower-income countries.

Gavi is often referred to as Bill Gates’ “international vaccination campaign,” according to Substack writer Jon Fleetwood. However, a recently published White House report revealed that the U.S. government to date has contributed $11.5 billion to Gavi through taxpayer-funded government allocations.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed only $4.1 billion to Gavi, according to the organization’s website — less than 36% of what U.S. taxpayers have contributed.

The Gates Foundation, which co-founded Gavi in 2000 with a $750 million pledge, is one of Gavi’s four permanent board members.

UNICEF, the World Bank and the World Health Organization — whose second-largest donor is Gates — hold the other permanent seats. The Clinton Health Access Initiative also sits on the board.

In a recent investigation, Fleetwood analyzed the details of the Biden-Harris administration’s 40-page “U.S. Government Support for Global Health Security” report, which provides an update on the Global Health Security Strategy the administration rolled out in April.

At the heart of the plan was a new 50-country strategy to combat future pandemics and a new Pandemic Fund that would be channeled through organizations like Gavi.

The report showed the Biden-Harris administration allocated $2 billion to Gavi’s “Day Zero Financing” — a “suite of tools” that would allow the organization to quickly meet vaccine demand during a pandemic.

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Israel ‘outright denied’ 90 percent of aid deliveries to north Gaza in November: UN

Israel “outright denied” 82 out of 91 attempts since 26 October to deliver aid to besieged areas in northern Gaza, said Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN humanitarian office in Gaza.

More attempts were unsuccessful because of “denials of specific locations or specific supplies,” he said in a statement reported by The Washington Post on 26 November.

The aid that has reached Gaza is being looted by criminal gangs, which are able to operate freely after Israel began killing members of the Gaza police attempting to secure aid deliveries earlier this year.

“It is tactical, systematic, criminal looting,” Petropoulos told the BBC.

He says this is leading to “ultra-violence” from “the looters towards the truckers, from the IDF towards the police, and from the police towards the looters.”

“Hamas’ security control dropped to under 20 percent,” the former head of Hamas police investigations told the BBC.

“We are working on a plan to restore control to 60 percent within a month.”

The BBC was told that “thefts often happen in clear sight of Israeli soldiers or surveillance drones but that the army fails to intervene.”

“Stolen goods are apparently being stored outside or in warehouses in areas under Israeli military control,” the BBC wrote.

As a result, hunger and malnutrition among Palestinians are increasing.

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