Will Trump Slash US Aid to Egypt?

Donald's Trump's administration will propose dramatic reductions in the U.S. foreign aid budget later this month- which could possibly affect its biggest aid recipients, Israel and Egypt. The announcement was made by White House Budget Director, Mick Mulvaney, on FOX News on Saturday, Reuters reports.

The US spends over $50 billion on the State Department and USAID, which the current administration plans to reduce to spend on domestic projects instead.

"The overriding message is fairly straightforward: less money spent overseas means more money spent here,"  explains Mulvaney.

The administration's budget proposal will be made public on March 16th.

USAID Director Richard Brown, speaking at Cairo University in 1999, stated that the USAID program to Egypt promotes NGOs, liberalisation of the economy, money is only directed to sectors that the US approves of, and does not support economic activity that conflicts with US interest like investment in textiles. Israel's aid on the other hand has no limits to where it can be invested leading to allegations the funds could be used to build on occupied territory.

USAID is currently being directed towards famine relief in East African countries such as Somalia and South Sudan