Washington: The official closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on July 1, 2025, was neither a technical nor a procedural decision. It was the result of large-scale audits and strategic assessments conducted by the administration led by U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the Trump Administration, following thorough investigations, determined that only 17 percent of USAID’s programs aligned with ‘American values’ and the foreign policy objectives of the United States. As a result, 83 percent of USAID’s programs were terminated. Subsequently, President Trump signed a bill cutting $9 billion from foreign aid and information policy funding. It was established that $7.9 billion of the reduced funds had been allocated through USAID.
The misuse of American taxpayers’ money for ineffective projects was prevented, and USAID, long used as a tool of ideological manipulation, was officially shut down. Secretary of State Marco Rubio openly stated that the agency had spent more than $715 billion over the years without achieving its goals. According to him, even the Sub-Saharan African countries that USAID prioritized supported the United States in the United Nations in only 29 percent of votes. For the U.S. administration, this marked the official end of an “era of ineffective aid.”
Although USAID presented itself as an organization engaged in humanitarian and social initiatives, in reality, it spent years engaging in political interference, public opinion manipulation, regime change operations, and destabilization efforts in various countries. Through NGOs and media outlets under its control, USAID established instruments of influence over societies, conducting ideological indoctrination under the guise of ‘assistance.’ This is precisely why its operations have been banned or restricted in countries such as Russia, China, Venezuela, and Egypt.
In Lebanon, boxes of unknown origin belonging to USAID were discovered in secret weapons depots linked to the terrorist organization Hezbollah. The boxes bore labels reading ‘With love from U.S. taxpayers to Hezbollah,’ along with the logos of USAID and UNICEF. Asher Fredman, Executive Director of the Institute for National Security Strategy based in Israel, told the local press that sniper rifles, anti-tank missiles, and various explosive materials had been seized from the secret depot. The portal ‘NGOMonitor’ also revealed that funds allocated by USAID – largely sourced from American taxpayers – had been routinely directed toward terrorist groups in Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza.
USAID’s true nature is not limited to these countries. It maintained offices in over 100 nations and employed more than 10,000 personnel. However, its operations extended far beyond education, healthcare, and economic development. On the contrary, illicit funding schemes, information manipulation, and attempts at regime change became the organization’s primary areas of ‘expertise.’
Azerbaijan is among the countries that have been affected by USAID’s duplicitous operations. The biased campaigns conducted against the country during major events such as the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, the 2015 European Games, the 44-day Patriotic War, and the environmental protests on the Lachin road were, to a large extent, orchestrated or supported by USAID. Traces of the organization’s involvement were also clearly visible in the smear campaigns launched in international media against Azerbaijan in the lead-up to COP29.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev accurately foresaw USAID’s fate in his interview on December 18, 2024. Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, Hikmet Hajiyev, also responded to USAID Director Samantha Power’s biased remarks on his ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) account, concluding his statement with words that marked the end of USAID’s operations in Azerbaijan.
Through various projects, USAID sought to undermine the success of globally significant events in Azerbaijan, attempted to influence public opinion, and aimed to damage the country’s international image. The main reason for this was Azerbaijan’s pursuit of an independent foreign policy based on national interests – and its refusal to submit to the dictates of such U.S.-backed entities. For that reason, USAID had targeted Azerbaijan – but it had chosen the wrong battlefield.
On June 1, 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan officially declared that USAID no longer had a legal basis to operate in the country and formally notified the United States of this decision. Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov emphasized that there were no grounds for the agency’s continued presence in Azerbaijan and that the time had come for USAID’s activities to be completely terminated.
The exposure and eventual closure of USAID underscored a fundamental global truth: many initiatives presented under the guise of ‘aid’ in fact serve political and geopolitical agendas, interference strategies, and ideological manipulation. That it was the Trump Administration that unmasked USAID’s true nature is particularly significant. The long-standing warnings voiced by Azerbaijan regarding USAID were ultimately confirmed by the U.S. government itself – once again proving that Baku was right all along.