The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published on 10 December 2025 a report titled "The Painful, Seismic Shift in Humanitarian Aid -- And What's Next" by Allison Lombardo and Stewart Patrick.
For decades the United States was by far the world's largest humanitarian aid donor. In 2024, it provided 38 percent of total emergency assistance tracked by the United Nations. The dismantlement of the US Agency for International Development by the Trump administration changed all of this.
The Trump administration's proposed FY2026 budget cuts funding for humanitarian aid by 70 percent. It cut funding for the World Food Program by more than 90 percent and made huge cuts in funding for UNICEF and the International Organization for migration.
Africa is the biggest loser in these US cutbacks. The continent accounts for 10 of the 13 hardest hit countries.