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The human toll of Trump's war on aid

Critics warned Trump's cuts to USAID would result in preventable deaths, hunger and other suffering worldwide. New reporting suggests that's now happening on a large scale.
CBC News ·
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A tight-cropped photo of a young girl receiving an oral vaccine. A man is visible smiling behind her, out of focus.
A Sudanese girl receives an oral cholera vaccine during a 10-day vaccination campaign conducted by health ministry workers in Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. ((Marwan Ali/AP Photo))
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Front Burner20:52The human toll of Trump's war on aid

On the first day of his second term as U.S. president, Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively gutting USAID — the United States Agency for International Development. It's an arm of the government that, in 2024, was operating in more than 130 countries worldwide, providing food, medicine and other life-saving support.

At the time, advocates said the cuts would result in preventable deaths from starvation, malnutrition, and easily treatable diseases. Now, nearly a year later, reporting from ProPublica suggests that’s what happened, particularly in several African countries.

Anna Maria Barry-Jester, a reporter with ProPublica, breaks down her investigation into the fallout of the collapse of USAID.

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