Trump USAID cuts doom Ukrainian dog cartoon
A Ukrainian cartoon series called ‘Patron the Dog’ has been canceled following US President Donald Trump’s decision to shut down the Agency for International Development (USAID) grant programs, according to scriptwriter Sasha Ruban.
The series, created to teach children about land mines, follows bomb-sniffing dog Patron – Ukrainian for “bullet cartridge” – as he rescues forest animals. The character is based on a real Jack Russell Terrier from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, who is now a mascot and social media star. The show airs on YouTube, where it has 223,000 subscribers.
Ruban said in an interview with Ukrainian News on Monday that the project was funded by USAID and UNICEF. She explained that the team completed the first season with 11 episodes and five episodes of the second but could not continue after USAID was dismantled.
“Mr. Trump said: ‘a bunch of crazy people were running the grant programs and we will get rid of them.’ And the grant programs were canceled,” Ruban claimed. She added that finding new sponsors will be difficult because ‘Patron the Dog’ is a “social and purely Ukrainian project,” noting that “no one abroad wants to buy a children’s project that shows missile fragments and types of explosive devices.”
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, Washington has sent billions in aid to Kiev, much of it through USAID. However, after returning to the White House in January, Trump launched a sweeping crackdown, slashing over 90% of its programs. He called the agency a haven for “radical lunatics” pushing “woke” agendas and argued the money should be spent at home. Projects the Trump administration labeled wasteful included a “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion musical” in Ireland and a “transgender opera” in Colombia, among others.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed last month that USAID is in “close out mode” and that its functions were being absorbed by other departments.
Critics have long accused USAID of acting as a tool of US foreign policy that is often used to effect regime change in other countries. In August, former USAID chief Samantha Power admitted in a prank call with Russian comedians that the agency had poured tens of millions into Moldova to support pro-EU President Maia Sandu.
