A US shutdown on foreign aid is hitting from Africa to Asia to Ukraine

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00:00The Veterans Support Centre in Western Ukraine is a vital resource for veterans of the war

00:05with Russia, offering advice on benefits, financial assistance and job opportunities.

00:11But after the U.S. State Department froze nearly all foreign assistance worldwide, its

00:16future is unclear.

00:18Workshops, lectures, educational events, informational events, everything we have been doing for

00:24four years in Venice, we have to put on hold.

00:28Hundreds of aid programs are on edge after U.S. President Donald Trump paused trillions

00:34of dollars in federal spending, domestic and foreign.

00:38The global impact of U.S. foreign aid is massive.

00:41It funds programs fighting disease, malnutrition and human trafficking, security programs and

00:47aid for pregnant women and babies.

00:49Three million lives a year are saved just from U.S. aid-funded immunization programs.

00:55The White House says Trump ordered the freeze to root out any funding that isn't consistent

01:00with his agenda.

01:02So what does this pause mean?

01:04It means no more funding for illegal DEI programs.

01:07It means no more funding for the Green New Scam that has cost American taxpayers tens

01:12of billions of dollars.

01:14It means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy

01:19and agencies.

01:21Initially, only emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt were exempt

01:27from the foreign aid pause.

01:29But after international uproar, Secretary of State Marco Rubio granted a waiver to continue

01:34funding humanitarian programs that provide life-saving medicine, medical services, food,

01:40shelter and subsistence assistance.

01:43Still, many organizations are unclear whether they are allowed to operate and worry about

01:49losing staff and infrastructure.

01:52Trump's order is being challenged in U.S. courts.

01:55And Tuesday, a judge temporarily blocked the directive.

01:59The White House says it will defend the funding freeze.

02:02And this fight is likely to go all the way to the Supreme Court.

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