United States officially shuts down 83% of USAID programs

He made the statement on X.

"After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83%  of the programs at USAID. The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States," he announced. "In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping (approximately 1000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department."

He thanked DOGE and his colleagues for the efforts that have been made to implement this important reform, which he said was long overdue.

USAID shutdown: background

On his first day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily suspended all U.S. foreign aid programs for 90 days to allow for inspections.

On January 24, media reports indicated that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had paused most foreign aid grants for 90 days, with suggestions that the order might also affect Ukraine.

American diplomats urgently requested that programs related to Ukraine be exempted from the 90-day foreign aid freeze imposed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

On January 26, sources cited by media outlets reported that USAID had been instructed to suspend all projects in Ukraine.

The White House Office of Management and Budget directed the suspension of all federal grants and loans.

On January 28, a U.S. federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration's decision to suspend funding for foreign aid programs and grants.

On March 4, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a freeze on all international aid during his address to Congress.

On March 5, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trump’s request to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid as part of his efforts to reduce government spending.