Trump asks Congress to cut cash for Ukrainian painters and Balkan gays – media
Art by Ukrainian women and LGBT organizations in the Balkans are among a series of projects funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) targeted for cancelation by the administration of US President Donald Trump, the New York Post has reported.
A White House request to US lawmakers to rescind unwanted spending includes $3.2 billion allocated to USAID, which the administration has pledged to dismantle.
The programs to be axed include $1.5 million to promote the artwork of Ukrainian women, $3.9 million to support LGBT communities in the western Balkans, and $24.6 million for “climate resilience” in Honduras, according to the report.
The move followed a ruling by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals that lifted an injunction on Trump’s efforts, clearing the way for the request to proceed.
The Trump administration has accused USAID of furthering “woke” initiatives around the world instead of using taxpayer money on furthering national interests. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared an end to the “era of government-sanctioned inefficiency” when he confirmed in July the takeover of the agency’s mandate by his department. Trump ordered the crackdown on USAID just after taking office in January, claiming it was run by “radical lunatics.”
Among the initiatives the White House marked as wasteful were the production of a “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion musical” in Ireland and a “transgender opera” in Peru, the manufacturing of “personalized” contraceptives for developing nations, and agriculture development in Afghanistan that the US concluded fueled illegal drug production.
Many critics of the agency outside the country have accused it of serving as a regime change tool that covertly serves the agenda of US foreign policy.
