The U.S. State Department has ordered a massive 90-day freeze on new foreign aid, with very few exceptions. This is one of the first actions of newly appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

President Donald J. Trump’s State Department has frozen new foreign aid funding for nearly all countries except for emergency food aid and military assistance to Egypt and Israel. Around one percent of the United States’s annual budget—an estimated $60 billion—is directed toward foreign aid, making it the largest foreign aid budget of any country on Earth.

Secretary of State Rubio informed U.S. embassies worldwide of the aid freeze, which relates to an executive order signed by President Trump earlier this week that halts certain foreign assistance programs. Aid groups already view the order as an immediate impediment to their work and could shut down their operations to avoid additional costs.

Abby Maxman, head of Oxfam America, released a statement criticizing President Trump and claiming that the administration is “threatening” people’s lives.

The order, most notably, does not mention Ukraine either. While the former Biden-Harris regime spent billions of taxpayer dollars to continue the Ukrainian war with Russia, President Trump has been adamant about his goal to end the conflict as soon as possible.

Both President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have tentatively agreed to meet sometime this year to begin discussions to end the conflict. However, around $3.85 billion of congressionally approved spending for Ukraine still remains available.

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