EMAIL DETAILS

Dear Board of Directors,

As you know, this morning the President spoke at UNGA, and as expected, his remarks included references to foreign assistance – and while there were no surprises, the rhetoric was not helpful. (See the Washington Post story<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-keeps-threatening-to-end-foreign-aid-for-disloyal-countries-heres-why-it-hasnt-happened/2018/09/25/3ff4984c-3925-4892-a67f-cbc479dc69fe_story.html>.)

Richard Haass was quick to jab back on Twitter: “actually, foreign aid is a tool used to protect US security interests, fight terrorists, combat disease, help refugees, promote democracy, expand trade, and more.” Plus bipartisan pushback has already been emanating from Capitol Hill with Senator Lindsey Graham and HFAC Ranking Member Eliot Engel speaking out.

The key lines from the speech are pasted below, but here’s a quick readout:


* America First, Again. In a speech that broadly rejected globalism, the president doubled down on nationalism and sovereignty as the leading themes driving a policy of “principled realism.” When discussing American generosity, he added that few countries “give anything to us.”


* Foreign assistance review: Leading up to the speech, there was intensive interagency disagreement about the NSC-driven foreign assistance review led by Deputy NSA Mira Ricardel. As I reported recently, neither State nor USAID were involved in the review – and, as such, only top line principles were in the POTUS speech.


* Pompeo win again. Initially, we had heard that NSC and OMB were vying to control the review going forward. Fortunately, President Trump announced that the review “will be headed up by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.” Hopefully, this is good news.


* Conditioning aid: We heard the old rhetoric: “Moving forward, we are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends.“ Conditioning aid for UN votes or converting development assistance into loans didn’t make it into the speech.


* UN funding: “We are working to shift more of our funding from assessed contributions to voluntary” – this goal reflects John Bolton’s long-standing argument and would require the approval of UN members and possibly Congress.


* What was missing? There was no specific mention of key Administration priorities in the development space, including development finance and international religious freedom. Some even expected to hear a shout-out to the BUILD Act or the new International Development Finance Corporation.


* Last year’s speech: In his 2017 UNGA appearance – with a different NSC team – the speech had passing references to “PEPFAR… the President's Malaria Initiative; the Global Health Security Agenda; the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery; and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative.”

The relevant portions on aid and U.S. contributions to the UN are below. Much more to discuss at our board meeting next week.

More soon,

Liz
Liz Schrayer, USGLC


Relevant Highlights of President Trump’s Speech to the UN General Assembly
September 25, 2018

“The United States is the world’s largest giver in the world, by far, of foreign aid. But few give anything to us. That is why we are taking a hard look at U.S. foreign assistance.

That will be headed up by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. We will examine what is working, what is not working, and whether the countries who receive our dollars and our protection also have our interests at heart.

Moving forward, we are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends. And we expect other countries to pay their fair share for the cost of their defense.

The United States is committed to making the United Nations more effective and accountable. I have said many times that the United Nations has unlimited potential. As part of our reform effort, I have told our negotiators that the United States will not pay more than 25 percent of the U.N. peacekeeping budget. This will encourage other countries to step up, get involved, and also share in this very large burden.

And we are working to shift more of our funding from assessed contributions to voluntary so that we can target American resources to the programs with the best record of success.

Only when each of us does our part and contributes our share can we realize the U.N.’s highest aspirations.”