As of Tuesday, July 1st, the role of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officially comes to an end.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced through an official statement from the Department of State that there will be a change in how foreign aid will be managed, stating:
“For Americans and many people around the world, July 1st marks the beginning of a new era of global partnership, peace, investment, and prosperity.”
He noted that after reviewing thousands of programs and over $715 billion spent over the decades, it became clear that USAID had fallen far below the standards required to advance the interests of the United States.
“As of July 1st, USAID will cease implementing foreign aid. Foreign aid programs that align with the policies of the U.S. administration will now be administered by the State Department, which will ensure greater accountability, strategy, and efficiency.”
Rubio strongly criticized USAID’s past operations, stating that the agency had often promoted anti-American ideas and groups, and treated foreign aid as charity rather than a strategic foreign policy instrument serving U.S. national interests.
USAID also distributed funds in the Western Balkans, including Albania. According to data published earlier this year by Donald Trump’s special envoy for crisis regions, Richard Grenell, NGOs in the Balkans received around $1.7 billion from USAID between 2020 and 2024.
According to Grenell, Albanian NGOs alone received $189 million in USAID funds over a four-year period.
The closure of USAID offices worldwide and the transition of foreign aid management to the State Department, according to Rubio, will place the United States in a stronger position against exploitative aid models like China’s, and will mark a “new era of global partnership, peace, investment, and prosperity.”
