Obama reaches out to Congress over Trump’s ‘dismantling’ of USAID » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 7 – Former United States President Barack Obama has criticized Donald Trump’s decision to dismantle USAID, calling it a profound foreign policy mistake.

Obama urged Congress to oppose the executive order, emphasizing that USAID has played a crucial role in fighting disease, feeding children, and promoting goodwill worldwide for the past six decades.

“USAID has been fighting disease, feeding children, and promoting goodwill around the world for six decades. Dismantling this agency would be a profound foreign policy mistake—one that Congress should resist,” he said on Thursday.

Obama’s remarks follow the January 24 announcement by the US administration, which paused billions of dollars in foreign aid funding for 90 days pending a policy review.

After his inauguration in January, President Trump signed several executive orders, including a 90-day suspension of US foreign aid and the withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The decision has created uncertainty for many African countries, including Kenya, which rely on US aid and funding from other developed nations for economic sustainability.

In Kenya, USAID has provided emergency food assistance, therapeutic nutrition, and humanitarian aid to refugee populations and host communities.

The agency has also delivered emergency health and nutrition services, safe drinking water, hygiene kits, and other relief supplies.

Additionally, USAID has created employment for over 40,000 people, who now face uncertainty and the threat of job loss.