Pearl River The impact of the extralegal blitzkrieg on federal funding and governmental programs by Trump and Musk has been devastating in the US and abroad. In the US, we still have the opportunity to resist and express solidarity and empathy for the pain of others, but that’s a privilege that many will not have, even as they may sicken and die now and in the future. This is not a maybe, but a certainty.
The destruction of the US AID programs is profound as monies were frozen, grants cancelled, and commitments abandoned. As reported in Science,
An analysis by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation shows that the US provided roughly 32% of total global health funding…estimates put the funding drop at $9 to $10 billion for the coming fiscal year alone, and $30 billion to $40 billion over the next 3 to 5 years. Some projections warn that the losses will result in 15 million new cases of malaria and 107,000 deaths this year alone, and 3 million deaths from HIV by 2030, most of them in Africa.
Trump’s abrupt and unilateral action is being opposed in the courts, but the consequences are immediate.
Even if conservatives would argue that despite our riches, we were doing more than our share, the speed and manner of the disruption makes it difficult for a gap that large to be filled. Partially this is a situation where there are many other attacks from the administration on other fronts. The threats by US to NATO and over the contributions of European countries to defense, as well as the reality of the Russian threats from the invasion of Ukraine, mean that EU countries are having to go deeper on defense spending, leaving them unable to make up the difference. Now 22% global health contributions being made by the UK and EU. “DonorTracker, a project that monitors trends in countries’ foreign assistance, projects countries other than the US will contribute $13.5 billion less in 2025 and 2026.” These cutbacks increase the size of the funding gap.
How about billionaires and philanthropy? They have been handling 17% of the burden. Their generosity has self-imposed limits as well. The Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation says it will increase its payout to 6%, but even while calling for others to “step up,” $360 million doesn’t go that far. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is increasing payout to “more than 12% of the foundation’s $75.2 billion endowment,” but that $9 billion-plus is not all new money, and, once again, can only go so far. Others may pony up, but it’s not enough.
A combination of MAGA chauvinism and conservative xenophobia and isolationism mixed with threats to the entire world economy from the Trump tariffs won’t be measured just in impacts on various countries gross national product, but in disease and death counts. The whole notion of “soft power” and presenting the USA as a friend and the model democratic ideal are now being replaced by hard fists and black hearts.
Apologies will mean little at sick beds and funerals around the world. We are going to have to find another way to say we’re sorry.