US secretary of state Marco Rubio has ordered an immediate halt to work on virtually all existing foreign aid programmes pending a review into whether they are consistent with President Donald Trump’s policies, according to an internal cable seen by the Financial Times.
The move will affect international assistance contracts administered by Washington, including through the US Agency for International Development, worth billions of dollars and spanning countries around the world.
In the cable sent to the state department and USAID on Friday, Rubio said that all new foreign aid disbursements were to be suspended, and contracting officers and grant officers needed to “immediately issue stop-work orders . . . until such time as the secretary shall determine, following a review”.