It turns out the Musk/Trump suspension of USAID aid is hurting a lot of Americans, and a lot of MAGA Americans at that. You may wonder how cutting foreign aid is hurting Americans. It’s really quite simple.
Much of that aid is spent in America with the money given to Americans. A lot of USAID’s aid to foreign countries is food aid. Where do you think USAID gets that food? It buys the food from American farmers and then ships it to the assisted country. It’s called the “Food For Peace Program and it enriches the MAGA farm base by about $2 billion annually.
The Trump/Musk presidency is seeking to completely dismantle USAID. The Musk half of the Musk/Trump presidency claims USAID is a “criminal organization” and boasts in a X post that they are feeding USAID “into the wood chipper.” Calling it “evil,” Musk states that “it is time for it to die” of USAID. Most of USAID’s staff has already been fired, furloughed or put on leave.
As a consequence billions in payments to American farmers are at risk. Hundreds of millions of dollars of existing contracts to purchase food from American farmers have already been cancelled. Those farmers are beginning to react with concern.
Executive Director Nick Levendofsky of the Kansas Farmer’s Union said cancelling the Food For Peace Program would be an “economic hit to Kansas farmers” when farmers are already struggling with low prices for their goods.
Farmers had a lot to do with electing the Musk/Trump Administration. They may want to reconsider their support.
