WASHINGTON: A year after the Trump administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development, most Americans still support foreign aid to provide disaster relief, prevent disease outbreaks and improve security, according to a new poll commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation and released Tuesday.
The poll of 2,022 voters showed Republicans and President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again base were skeptical of foreign aid before getting more details.
Nearly all Americans overestimated by far how much Washington spent on such programmes, with over a third thinking they accounted for 20 per cent of the annual US budget.
When told that foreign aid accounted for just 1per cent of the US budget before 2025 and briefed on what it accomplished, Americans’ support grew to 70 per cent from 54 per cent, the poll showed. Republican support reached 58 per cent, and even MAGA Republicans, defined as those who primarily support Trump over the party, backed aid by 50 per cent, the foundation said.
Trump, who made cutting off foreign aid a cornerstone of his “America First” campaign promises, ordered the closure of USAID when he took office in January 2025.
Well over 10,000 USAID personnel and contractors were fired and thousands of programs were canceled, throwing into turmoil US-funded aid operations on which millions of the world’s poorest people depended. US foreign aid disbursements dropped to $47 billion in fiscal year 2025 from $72 billion a year earlier, US data shows.
