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USAID Memo Warns Trump’s Foreign Aid Freeze Could Lead to Millions of Preventable Deaths

HeadlineMar 05, 2025

The Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development are likely to cause enormous human suffering, leading to increased death and disability, accelerated disease spread, political instability and heightened threats to U.S. national security. That’s according to an internal USAID memo obtained by The New York Times which looked at the impact Trump’s freeze will have on lifesaving humanitarian assistance if it’s made permanent. The memo projects 1 million children will lose treatment for severe acute malnutrition each year, 200,000 children will become paralyzed with polio annually, up to 18 million more people will become infected with malaria, with up to 166,000 additional deaths each year, and much more. The memo was written by USAID’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Global Health Nicholas Enrich. Over the weekend, Enrich was placed on administrative leave.

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