The Trump administration has cut off all foreign aid to the Central American nations of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras - known as the Northern Triangle countries.
“At the Secretary’s instruction, we are carrying out the President’s direction and ending FY 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle,” reads a statement to The Hill from a State Department spokesperson.
The sudden move comes after a Friday statement by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen - who said she signed a “historic” regional compact last week with the Northern Triangle to “combat human smuggling and trafficking, crack down on transnational criminals fueling the crisis, and strengthen border security to prevent irregular migration.”
Later Friday, President Trump said that said countries “set up” migrant caravans, per CNN.
“We were paying them tremendous amounts of money. And we’re not paying them anymore. Because they haven’t done a thing for us. They set up these caravans,” Trump reportedly said.
“At the Secretary’s instruction, we are carrying out the President’s direction and ending FY 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle,” said a State Department spokesperson. “We will be engaging Congress as part of this process.”
The move comes after disputed reports of the “mother of all caravans” assembling in Honduras. On Wednesday Mexico’s Interior Secretary Olga Sánchez Cordero warned “We have information that a new caravan is forming in Honduras, that they’re calling ‘the mother of all caravans,’ and they are thinking it could have more than 20,000 people.”
Trump, meanwhile, did not mince words on Friday - threatening to close the border with Mexico if they don’t stop the latest caravans.
"Mexico could stop it so easily," Trump said of "big caravans" he claimed are now coming from Central America.
He said he stopped foreign aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador because "they set up these caravans" and threatened to close the border "for a long time" pic.twitter.com/UqxcBSgOwM
— POLITICO (@politico) March 29, 2019
In December, Trump threatened to cut off aid to countries from which the caravans originate, and are “doing nothing for the United States but taking our money.”
Trump cuts off foreign aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. I’m happy to hear he is putting America First.
— Omar Navarro (@RealOmarNavarro) March 30, 2019
While Trump’s supporters have praised the move, others have suggested that cutting foreign aid will further destabilize the region and cause larger problems - including more migration.
Cutting foreign aid to our Central American neighbors will be broadly destabilizing & will exacerbate the problems that are leading to migration from these countries. Migration will likely increase, which the White House will then use as a cudgel in the 2020 election. #Cynical?
— Richard Bloom (@RichardBloom) March 30, 2019
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) - ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, denounced the move.
“If carried out, President Trump’s irresponsible decision to cut off our assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras would undermine American interests and put our national security at risk,” he said.
“U.S. foreign assistance is not charity; it advances our strategic interests and funds initiatives that protect American citizens. This latest reported move shows the Administration still does not understand that the United States cuts foreign aid to Central America at our own peril.”
via zerohedge
It’s about time. Most countries that accept money from the American taxpayers do nothing for us! It’s time to eliminate this foolishness for good!
50,000 THUMBS UP………..They are getting $$$$ from the drug cartels for their involvement with all those illegal drugs………
Folks, we are being “invaded by a foreign army of illegal aliens supported and financed by the criminal Democrat Party Mob, so they can use them as illegal voters in the 2020 election to win with massive voter fraud”!! That is what this is all about!! The criminal Democrat Party also wants to use these illegal aliens as illegal voters to destroy us as legal American voters in the 2020 election also!!! It comes down to them or us in the 2020 election and we do not want to be a “conquered people, do we”??????
YOUR SO RIGHT. I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FROM THE START . THE DNC, BIG MONEY .AND THE MEDIA HAS SOLD AMERICA OUT. THE BIG MONEY IS BIG LABOR. BIG LABOR IS THE BIG WINER HERE . AND BIG LABOR OWNES THE DNC. I SEEN A POLL THE OTHER WEEK . SAID THAT 63 %OF AMERICANS THINK THERE WILL BE A SIVIL WAR ON THE STREETS OF AMERICA WITH IN NEXT 5 YR . ( I THINK IS ABOUT 75 TO 80 % AND IT WILL BE IN THE NEXT 2 YR . AND IT IS BEING PUSHED BY THE DNC . ) LOOK AT ALL THEY ARE DOING . PUT THIS NATION IN DEPT THAT WE CANT PAY, TRYING TO GET OUR GUNS , DID NOT HOLD THE BANKS ACCOUNTABLE ON THE BIGEST RIP OFF IN HISTORY ,AND OBAMA LET CHINA PUT THAT BASE IN A PLACE THAT WILL COST AMERICAN LIVES AND SO MUCH MORE. LOOK AT ALL OF THERE ACTIONS IN A ROLL. IT IS A SALE OUT
Fuck the Democrats. Most foriegh aid is a fucking waste of money.
Its about time - what took him so long? Get these cucarachas out of our country. All future MS13 gang members and democrats.
UNBELIEVABLE,to know there is still voters out there that blindly support the American hating,illegal alien loving socialist democrats in Washington !! please tell me,can people be that easily manipulated not to see the pure evil coming from these democrat parasites
These nimrods are NOT socialist democrats!! They are Communists, period. Can the voting public be easily manipulated? Hell, YES! Obama and AOC, along with many others have been elected to Federal Office.
Richard Bloom, a Los Angeles Progressive, that means he’s just slightly to the left of Putin, thinks it’s a bad idea. That’s the best reason I can think of to do it!
Trump sucks up to Putin so he must be OK
It is about time because they are going to come here even with the money still going there and it can be used to send their lazy asses back. For all the money that has been sent over the years they should have built their country up not destroyed it. I love all the bull shit the democrats shove at us about their needs that have been paid for several times and we have people who fought for this country living on the streets. And if the states are going to make pot legal let the dealers out and put the illegal in.
My question is; Does this include all the subsidies that are made by the Soros organization and which we subsidize? These should also be stopped!
The democrats have the house so they now voted to let illegal aliens vote. What is wrong with this picture. Illegal aliens shouldn’t even be here. Nevertheless, have voting rights. Democrats are doing it because they think all the illegal aliens will vote for them. The surprise is on them. They have done nothing in the house for the people. They are still going after Trump after Mueller exonerated him from collusion. We all knew that would be the case. Mueller and his democrats investigation based on a fake Dossier, tried so hard for two years to take Trump down. Wasting money we will have to pay for. They all new it was fake paid for by Hillary Clinton. Why did they even let it go on. The reason it went on is because Democrats corruption hold them all together. While Republicans don’t have the guts to stick up for their President. I say let’s leave the President alone. He should close the southern border and stop paying all these countries that are not taking care of their people.
THEY NEED THERE VOTES . BECAUSE THEY HAVE DESTORYED THERE VOTER BASE HERE . AND WHEN THE REST OF THIS TRUMP CRAP COMES OUT . FEW WILL CALL THEM A DEMCO-RATES. AND THE 3RD PATRY WILL GET A BIG BOOST IN THERE NUMBERS
This should have been done 16 years ago. Trump is right…enough is enough. We need to go back to our policies on immigration. You apply you assimilate..you are welcomed in. No policy should say we have to be flooded with immigrants and then support them. The policy for welfare and free education should stop for anyone who is not here legally gets zero.
Yes … all foreign aid to these three countries should have been stopped years ago! And what have they done with the millions of taxpayer dollars - nothing to help their citizens! It’s all gone to their criminal regimes
and they use it against us! And also stop all aid to Puerto Rico too!
They are as corrupt as ever! Close the border too! It will certainly get everyone’s attention! Remember — “money talks, and BS walks”!
Build the wall and electrify it!
God save America! Trump,2020. Our only hope!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
The problem at the border isn’t immigration - it’s illegal invasion!
I always wonder how all these illegals pay their cell phone bills??
It’s complete insanity!
Build the wall!! Get our wonderful military to keep the borders closed
and protected! Lock and load people!!
Keep America soverign! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you for cutting off aid we shouldn’t have ever given them help in the first place. We can use that money for all those invaders coming to are border for sending them back.We need a bill to make all those stupid democrats pay out of their taxes since there the ones that want are Country invaded by those who want a free ride like welfare bums.Keep are border safe or your going to make the American people to lock and load and take are Country back .
Since, according to Obama, we are no-longer a Christian nation, then cut off ALL foreign assistance!! We can use the money to recover from the massive debt Obama and his crew created.
Closing the southern border and stopping all financial aid to the countries which are using us to send their surplus population too is a good move. Hopefully it isn’t too late!
Divert and reprogram the already appropriated/budgeted funds to build the wall.
And throw out Art I of the US Const
Stop foreign aid altogether.
They can’t migrate (illegally) if we close the border and move strong military support to our Southern Border to prevent them”from stepping one foot on American soil”.