{"id":2157,"date":"2025-02-09T01:58:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T19:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/?p=2157"},"modified":"2025-02-09T01:58:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T19:58:07","slug":"trump-is-gutting-an-agency-that-his-daughter-once-championed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/trump-is-gutting-an-agency-that-his-daughter-once-championed\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump is gutting an agency that his daughter once championed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0<\/cite><\/div>\n

President Donald Trump\u00a0is eagerly dismantling an agency that was once championed by his daughter and senior adviser,\u00a0Ivanka Trump.<\/p>\n

The work of the US Agency for International Development was important enough to the president that during his 2019 State of the Union address, he unveiled a new key priority within the agency to be spearheaded by his daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of our commitment to improving opportunity for women everywhere, this Thursday we are launching the first ever government-wide initiative focused on economic empowerment for women in developing countries,\u201d he said in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

Days later in the Oval Office, joined by Ivanka Trump, top officials and women directly impacted by US funding for women\u2019s economic empowerment abroad, he signed a presidential memorandum establishing W-GDP, the Women\u2019s Global Development and Prosperity initiative, calling it a matter of national security and a \u201ctremendous step for women.\u201d<\/p>\n

But six years later, Trump has frozen nearly all foreign assistance, and his administration is gutting USAID, which he\u2019s said is run by \u201cradical lunatics.\u201d USAID staff around the world were supposed to be placed on leave with orders to return to the US on Friday, but a federal judge that afternoon temporarily\u00a0ordered<\/a>\u00a0the administration to halt its plans.<\/p>\n

The Trump\u2019s administration\u2019s targeting of USAID is hitting hard for some beneficiaries of Ivanka Trump\u2019s work overseas.<\/p>\n

\u201cFolks that she interacted with and that she gave hope and promise to \u2013 that\u2019s been ripped away from them. \u2026 I mean, we\u2019re just absolutely devastated,\u201d said a current USAID employee.<\/p>\n

Nino Zambakhidze, a Georgian farmer showcased during Trump\u2019s signing ceremony, said the upheaval has been \u201cshocking\u201d and comes at a time when the \u201cworld already feels upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw President Trump was elected again, I thought it was going to bring more support for women\u2019s economic empowerment because he loved this program,\u201d added Zambakhidze, who said she launched a successful farm in her eastern European country with the help of US financial assistance after four lending institutions shot her down because she was a woman.<\/p>\n

She came to see Trump and his daughter as \u201cthe ones willing to invest in women in order to get more equality and a more peaceful and sustainable world,\u201d and now is struggling to understand \u201cwhat the hell is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Ivanka Trump did not respond to multiple inquiries regarding her stance on the administration\u2019s moves to disband USAID. Having decamped to Florida, she\u2019s largely left politics and is not playing the same role she did during her father\u2019s first four years in the White House. The White House did not return CNN\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump\u2019s willingness to abandon a program he once championed is illustrative of a greater pivot from his past approach to foreign aid. It aligns with his campaign pledge to slash federal spending, a promise now being carried out with striking swiftness by tech billionaire Elon Musk, leaving government workers scrambling to keep pace. The move also echoes the sharp critique of foreign assistance outlined in\u00a0Project 2025<\/a>, a conservative policy blueprint for a potential second Trump term written by many of his allies and former advisers.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s reversal on USAID has nevertheless left the international community reeling. Even as he proposed successive budgets slashing its funding, Trump during his first term also gave USAID a seat at the table as he shaped his national defense strategy, said Noam Unger, the director of the Sustainable Development and Resilience Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. That defense blueprint,\u00a0released a year after Trump took office<\/a>, called past work boosting developing countries \u201csome of the greatest triumphs of American statecraft\u201d and outlined plans to unleash private sector investment to spread US influence and progress worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a very conscious effort in the first Trump administration to leverage tools of US foreign policy, including aid, to counter the malign influence of adversaries and rivals of the US on the global stage,\u201d Unger said.<\/p>\n

The broad support for foreign aid within his first\u00a0<\/strong>administration was on display during Trump\u2019s W-GDP signing ceremony. Joined by lawmakers from both parties, United Nations Ambassador John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump declared his \u201cnational security strategy says investing in women helps achieve greater peace and prosperity for nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said the program would unleash $12 trillion in world GDP, \u201ccreating another China without the trade deficit.\u201d Trump grinned in response.<\/p>\n

\u201cEconomic stability is good defense policy,\u201d Trump\u2019s acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said during the signing.<\/p>\n

Then, turning to Ivanka Trump, Shanahan added: \u201cI\u2019m hoping your initiative will put me out of business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ivanka Trump\u2019s close work with USAID reached around the world<\/h2>\n

During her father\u2019s first administration, Ivanka Trump personally worked with USAID to develop the W-GDP initiative, building relationships at the agency and within the private sector; leaning on the agency\u2019s development expertise and global footprint to create a three-pronged program aimed at women\u2019s education and entrepreneurship; and eliminating the legal, regulatory and cultural barriers that prevent women from participating in the economy.<\/p>\n

A relatively noncontroversial, apolitical project, it was, by many measures, a major success and signature achievement of her legacy. Though it was rebranded under the Biden administration, the initiative continued to thrive and impact women around the globe. USAID\u2019s initial $50 million investment in the fund was boosted to $300 million by its third year, according to a fact sheet provided by a current USAID employee earlier this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it was one of the good news stories that came out of that White House \u2013 economically empowering women is a good thing, most people can agree on that \u2013 she was very interested and involved,\u201d said one source who worked closely with Ivanka Trump and her team on the initiative, who requested anonymity to speak freely.<\/p>\n

The program reached 12 million women in its first year, according to background material provided by the White House at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen women are economically empowered, society prospers and peace prevails,\u201d Ivanka Trump said at the time in a video promoting the work.<\/p>\n

Lillian Achomo, a Uganda-based project manager, joined the Trumps in the Oval Office as the president held the signing ceremony establishing W-GDP.<\/p>\n

Recalling that February 2019 day, Achomo told CNN she was shocked by the attention on her work, which was part of a women-led effort to provide affordable internet to rural communities and had benefited from a 2018 grant from an Ivanka Trump-spearheaded program through USAID that served as a precursor to W-GDP.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur work is actually recognized, you know? Our work in the communities down in northern Uganda is actually recognized by America, by American president,\u201d Achomo said. \u201cSupporting a woman with just some little capital causes, really, a multiplier effect, and to me it was an opportunity to really air that out, for him to put emphasis on it. And I was very appreciative that that opportunity was given to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project, Achomo said, impacted thousands of people in Kenya, Namibia, Senegal and Morocco, and would not have been possible without that USAID funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt changed the entire organization. \u2026 It\u2019s really changed a lot of lives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ivanka Trump sent Achomo a personal letter after their visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was deeply touched by your story, and appreciated your contributions to our discussion on the importance of global women\u2019s economic empowerment as a catalyst for global peace, prosperity, and stability,\u201d Trump wrote in the letter, now framed in Achomo\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

The White House continued to champion Ivanka Trump\u2019s initiative and its reach. Shortly after she joined then-USAID administrator Mark Green on a trip to Cote d\u2019Ivoire, the administration touted the amendment of the nation\u2019s marriage law, which allowed women and men to have equal and joint ownership over household assets for the first time, as an example of the program\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 President Donald Trump\u00a0is eagerly dismantling an agency that was once championed by his daughter and senior adviser,\u00a0Ivanka Trump. The work of the US Agency for International Development was important enough to the president that during his 2019 State of the Union address, he unveiled a new key priority within the agency to be spearheaded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,37],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2160,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157\/revisions\/2160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}