The initiative represents the latest step in the Trump administration’s broader withdrawal from donor-based foreign aid, following the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the suspension of funding to the World Health Organization, the U.N. Human Rights Council, and UNESCO since January 2025.
The Trump administration is pressing foreign governments to back a “Trade Over Aid Initiative” at the United Nations, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordering all U.S. diplomats to recruit high-level support ahead of a formal UN introduction scheduled for the end of April, according to a diplomatic cable obtained by The Associated Press.
The initiative calls on UN member states to “make pro-business reforms” to their aid processes by facilitating conversations among governments, the private sector, and international organizations. The proposal calls for “free market” policies that include “limited regulation, low taxation, multiple energy sources, private property rights, sanctity of contracts, and a trusted judiciary,” according to the directive. Signing on is nonbinding and would not create obligations or require changes to national laws, the AP reported.
The United Nations pushed back Wednesday against the direction the proposal signals. “For us, trade, investment, and private sector engagement can be powerful drivers of inclusive growth and job creation,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told the AP. “They should, however, not be used to substitute international development cooperation or for principled humanitarian assistance.”
Administration’s case
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott defended the initiative. “The idea that trade and free market capitalism is the surest path to prosperity has been proven by the facts and by history,” Pigott said. “The U.S. remains the most generous country in the history of the world, but those arguing for ‘aid not trade’ are really arguing for lining the pockets of a corrupt NGO industrial complex.”
The initiative builds on the Trump administration’s pattern since taking office in January 2025 of pulling back from organizations that promote global cooperation. The administration suspended support for the World Health Organization, the U.N. Human Rights Council, and UNESCO, and dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development. In December, U.S. officials announced a $2 billion pledge for UN humanitarian aid — a fraction of previous U.S. contributions — which the administration described as maintaining America’s status as the world’s largest humanitarian donor.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and other nations have decreased funding for humanitarian aid while increasing defense spending, the AP reported, a trend the UN and other international organizations have described as further abandoning the aid system at a moment of growing conflicts worldwide.
Critics
Eric Pelofsky, an executive at the Rockefeller Foundation who served at the State Department under both the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations, issued a statement criticizing the effort.
“There’s no American who looks at a picture of a starving child and sees an opportunity for companies to enrich themselves,” Pelofsky said. “That’s because Americans have historically run to the fire to help rather than looking for ways to sell fire hoses to those suffering. This approach betrays America’s traditions, values, and national security interests — and it makes us less safe.”
The United Nations said it remained committed to its sustainable development agenda by 2030, which includes ending poverty, achieving gender equality, and addressing climate change, Dujarric said.