In a warehouse in Djibouti, enough food to feed 3.5 million starving people is spoiling in the heat. Grains meant for Sudanese refugees are baking into clumps. Nutrition packets that could have saved toddlers are going rancid. And all of it is sitting still—abandoned—because Donald Trump and Elon Musk shut off the funding pipeline that was supposed to deliver it.
This isn’t just a scandal. It’s a moral collapse.
USAID was never perfect, but it was the largest and most effective global humanitarian aid system the world had ever seen. In an era when democracy is backsliding and war is on the rise, it was one of the last things holding the liberal world order together. Now, under Trump and his billionaire enablers, that system is being burned to the ground.
The Human Cost of Cruelty
Sudan is facing one of the worst hunger crises in modern history. Civil war has displaced over eight million people. Babies are dying from malnutrition in camps where water and electricity barely function. Every single day, 50 trucks of food aid should be crossing the border into Sudan. Instead, fewer than five make it through.
USAID knows what to do. The infrastructure is there. The staff is there. The food is even there. But the money is gone.
Congressional Republicans slashed funding. Trump’s operatives at the agency stalled shipments. And now Elon Musk’s influence campaign has turned this once-proud commitment to humanitarianism into just another casualty of culture war politics.
Why? Because Helping People Isn’t the Point Anymore
The Trump-Musk worldview is simple. They don’t believe in global cooperation. They don’t believe in moral responsibility. They believe in power, wealth, and attention. If starving children don’t serve their political brand, those children are on their own.
And make no mistake, this isn’t about “efficiency” or “America First.” The food already exists. The containers are packed. The ports are open. The holdup is ideological. It’s the deliberate decision to let people die rather than admit that international solidarity might actually matter.
This Is a Blueprint for Global Abandonment
The United States built a system after World War II that made life livable for billions. From decolonization to post-Soviet reconstruction, we helped rebuild the world. But now, extremists want to erase that legacy and replace it with a fantasy of nationalist decline. They want to make sure America is feared, not respected. Alone, not leading.
And the result isn’t strength. It’s rot. Rot in Djibouti. Rot in Congress. Rot in the soul of a nation that once believed in helping people just because it was right.
You Can Still Do Something
We need to make this a political crisis for the people causing the humanitarian one. And that starts with pressure.
Call your members of Congress right now and tell them to restore USAID funding and hold this administration accountable. Call them with the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Then help us elect a new wave of pro-aid Democrats and hold the GOP accountable. Donate to our campaign here to register 100,000 new Democrats and replace the cruelty with compassion.
And finally, if you want to keep up with how we're fighting back, sign up for our newsletter at Alliance for American Leadership.
Because the food is there. The people need it. The only thing missing is courage.
