What Is the Trump Administration Doing With Foreign Aid Money?

Per ProPublica's Friday investigation, the Trump administration is redirecting foreign aid dollars away from traditional human rights work toward controversial right-wing groups in Europe and elsewhere. The State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor — which for decades supported human rights in oppressive countries — is now considering grants to organizations like a British free-speech group that opposed bans on gay conversion therapy, and a think tank focused on what it calls threats to Western 'Judeo-Christian civilisation.' Most striking: the administration proposed a grant specifically researching crime against minority populations in South Africa, targeting Afrikaners — the white ethnic group responsible for apartheid. Experts note that research shows Afrikaners aren't victimized at higher crime rates than other groups. The shift signals a dramatic reordering of U.S. priorities in the region, experts warn, and risks damaging a relationship that has historically been anchored by American support for South African health programs that have saved lives.

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