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Editor's note: The article was updated with a comment from Andrii Kovalenko, the counter-disinformation chief at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
U.S. President Donald Trump paused U.S. foreign development assistance for 90 days and ordered reviews of aid programs to ensure they align with Washington's foreign policy, according to an executive order published by the White House on Jan. 20.
Trump signed numerous decrees after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in a ceremony held in the United States Capitol on Jan. 20.
Ukraine tops the list of U.S. development assistance recipients, receiving over $17 billion in economic aid in 2023 as it faces Russian aggression, official data shows. It remains unclear what programs will be affected or what the immediate impact of the order will be for Ukraine.
As the federal budget is set by the U.S. Congress, it also remains unclear what funding could be cut by the order.
In the document, Trump wrote that "the United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values," without mentioning specific examples.
"All department and agency heads with responsibility for United States foreign development assistance programs shall immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign countries and implementing non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors pending reviews of such programs for programmatic efficiency and consistency with United States foreign policy," the executive order reads.
In addition to development aid, the U.S. has provided Kyiv with $66 billion in military assistance since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022. Trump has previously hinted at a possible reduction of military support for Ukraine and vowed to get the U.S. "out" of the conflict.
Andrii Kovalenko, the counter-disinformation chief at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, clarified on Jan. 21 that the order does not impact Washington's military support for Ukraine.
"That’s all about other things," he added on his Telegram channel.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
