Just one week into his second term, United States president Donald Trump is forcefully reminding us that when America sneezes, we’re most likely to catch a cold.
Added to the many controversial moves over the last eight days, Trump’s administration announced yesterday, through the Office of Management and Budget, a pause on loans and grants both locally and abroad,.
The aim, the office said, was to give the administration an opportunity to determine what programmes align with US interests and what do not.
This is, of course, another layer of the Put America First doctrine, which Trump enforced in his 2017-2021 term, casting blanket global policies that affect all who are not agile enough to find quick solutions.
For now, though, enforcement of the policy is on hold, as a federal judge’s ruling yesterday temporarily blocked it.
Trump, however, has been known to get his way more often than not.
The question we’re now faced with is what impact this latest policy will have on T&T if he succeeds, and whether we are capable of finding a substitute for the foreign aid and grants we are likely to lose if Trump believes it isn’t worth the US’ while to give to countries such as ours.
The numerous grants and aid T&T gets from the US annually, amounting to millions, focus mostly on promoting education, security, economic development, health and humanitarian assistance and have existed for decades.
Last year alone, the US Embassy Educational and Cultural Exchange Programmes and Appropriation Overseas Grants offered T&T beneficiaries funding of up to US$3,000. Also, thousands of students benefit each year from scholarships offered by US-based institutions, some of which are funded by bilateral agreements between the two governments.
As of yesterday, though, the US Embassy’s page, where requests for grant proposals are usually made, was void of all information regarding grants. Instead, a one-line message read: “Please stay tuned to our website or social media accounts for funding opportunities.”
Although the position of the new administration is that the US has been giving more than it is receiving, it is important to understand why these grants are so helpful to countries such as ours.
Our security partnerships are crucial in the fight against illicit drugs transhipped through the Caribbean destined for North America.
The funding given to T&T, therefore, serves two purposes; protecting T&T’s borders from narcotics that fuel gang and gun activity, while also reducing the potential for large transshipments to be transported to the US.
The USAID programme also funds development initiatives in T&T in areas of economic development, healthcare, education, and disaster response. Therefore, cuts to humanitarian assistance given as direct aid or support via international organisations such as the Red Cross, or NGOs operating in T&T, can impact citizens directly.
It is important, therefore, that as we plan for the rest of 2025, we consider the worst-case scenario while hoping for the best; that is the retention of all grants and funding given by the US to T&T.
In the meantime, we must take advantage of our prudent diplomacy over the years to engage other partners in Europe, Asia and the Commonwealth in win-win funding discussions, particularly in areas that would impact our social fabric the most.
After all, when one door closes, another opens.
