On January 20, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Trump signed several executive orders on his first day in office. Among these executive orders, a piece of information has spread on the internet claiming that U.S. aid to Bangladesh has been suspended.
See the claims reported in Indian media: Aaj Tak, TV9, ABP, Calcutta News, Zee News, Republic Bangla, and WION.
A video with the same claim was also broadcast from the Facebook page of Republic Bangla’s prominent presenter Mayukh Ranjan (Facebook Page).
Posts circulated on Facebook can be found here (Archived), here (Archived), here (Archived), here (Archived), and here (Archived).
Posts shared on X (formerly Twitter) can be found here (Archived), here (Archived), here (Archived), here (Archived), here (Archived), and here (Archived).
Videos broadcast on YouTube can be viewed here (Archived).
Fact-Check
The investigation by the Rumor Scanner team reveals that the decision to suspend U.S. foreign aid was not taken solely for Bangladesh. Rather, all types of U.S. foreign aid activities have been suspended for nearly all countries of the world for 90 days. However, military assistance to Israel and Egypt, as well as life-saving food and nutrition aid for displaced Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh, are excluded from this suspension.
An international news report published by the Associated Press (AP) on January 21 sheds light on this matter. According to the report, President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending all U.S. foreign aid programs for 90 days. The purpose of this suspension is to review how these aid programs align with his administration’s policies.
The report mentions that it remains unclear how much funding will be impacted by this suspension, as many projects are already approved by Congress and obligated for spending. Trump has argued that the management of foreign aid often contradicts American interests and may not always promote global peace.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that each aid program would be evaluated based on three guiding questions:
- Does it make America safer?
- Does it make America stronger?
- Does it make America more prosperous?
A related report published by the BBC indicated that the U.S. State Department had instructed the suspension of nearly all foreign aid programs, including a halt on new aid initiatives. However, military assistance to Israel and Egypt is exempted from this suspension. The BBC revealed this information after an internal memo from the State Department was leaked.
In other words, only Israel and Egypt have been exempted in terms of military assistance, while nearly all foreign aid activities in other countries have been suspended for 90 days.
However, A statement from the official Facebook page of Bangladesh’s interim government Chief Adviser, Dr. Yunus (archived link), reveals that life-saving food and nutrition aid for displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh was excluded from the U.S. aid suspension. Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka informed Chief Adviser’s senior representative Dr. Khalilur Rahman of this exception during a high-level meeting held on January 26. Chief Adviser Dr. Yunus expressed gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump for this humanitarian action.
In other words, like military assistance to Israel and Egypt, life-saving food and nutrition aid for Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh has been excluded from this suspension.
Conclusion
The 90-day suspension of U.S. foreign aid was a comprehensive policy review impacting most countries globally, with exceptions for military aid to Israel and Egypt and humanitarian assistance for Rohingyas in Bangladesh. Claims suggesting that the suspension specifically targeted Bangladesh are inaccurate and misleading.
Sources
- AP News: Trump suspends US foreign assistance for 90 days pending reviews
- BBC: US orders immediate pause to foreign aid, leaked memo says
- Chief Adviser GOB: Facebook Post
