I ran @USAID health programs for the last 3 years. Trump’s 90 day Stop Work Order on foreign assistance does serious damage to the world and the US. Examples:🧵
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This is the point. When you realize that the stopping of these things is the point and understand why someone has this intention, you understand the people in charge.
The United States has always relied on Soft Power for our advantage in the world, not just bigger weapons. He is destroying that because he does not understand that who we are is important, he only believes in power and extortion.
Part of the Broligarchs plan is to cull the herd, starting with abetting the spread of infectious fatal diseases. The press won't cover the story as Americans struggle to survive while 3rd world poor are holocausted.
The USAID programs helped to demine Ukrainian fields, so that farmers can grow their crops; provided equipment for Ukrainian hospitals, and helped to build bomb shelters in schools.
Now it is all is suspended.
But I am sure that eggs are going to be soooooo cheap now! Hooray, America First!
What I don’t understand is what they think these stoppages accomplish. Even if things resume in 90 days, the long term damage can’t be easily undone. Unnecessary diseases and deaths should never be means to an end.
Thank you for your insights into the consequences of recklessly stopping these lifesaving programs, many of them focused on global health initiatives like fighting TB and malaria.
I think the ‘checks and balances’ that many of us learned about in school was 1)idealized/fictional and 2) has been systematically dismantled by the supreme court and consolidation of power in the executive branch, esp in last 20 years.
Republicans are in control of every branch of government and are either okay with it or are more interested in Trump's endorsement for their next primary election than in any higher principle.
Announcing a 60-day review of programs and funding is what a responsible manager does. Halting all funding immediately is what a douchey tyrant does to signal that he thinks your whole organization is useless.
Trump said in A presser he was ALL civil service workers to get “high productivity “ jobs in the private sector. They really have. I idea what our govt does.
Elon knows nothing about our system of cooperation with other countries
What a nightmare
Here is the problem. The people that voted for him DON'T CARE! This is what they want. "Others" to hurt. We need to start messaging about how it effects THEM!
I think one thing people are missing in this, his actions against the CDC communicating with the WHO, the freezing of ALL federal disbursements (except Social Security and a few others), and the forced stop work of USAID staff is designed to make those who disagree with him leave their jobs.
Miller flat out said they would make federal employees so uncomfortable that they would leave their jobs. They will replace them with true believers or leave the jobs unfilled. If you are in one of these jobs, don’t quit. Make them fire you.
Ah but they planned for that. You will be accused of "egregious acts" and not get unemployment insurance pay. This kind of thing is commonplace in many fields already, btw.
Haven’t heard from @billgatess.bsky.social on any of this - just a piece in the @wsj.com about how Trump was so good at listening to his ideas at their dinner!
1. Stops work battling a deadly Marburg outbreak in Tanzania and a wide outbreak of a mpox variant killing children in west Africa before it spreads further.
4. Stops >$1B in corporate drug donations and coordination eradicating tropical diseases like river blindness, elephantiasis, and others on the verge of elimination in whole regions. https://www.neglecteddiseases.gov/about/results-and-impact/
During a Sub Sahara drought I lived in Niger. I worked with USAID. Mothers came with starving children, starving babies, starving mothers. We gave them food. People will die without USAID. So Elon can play games.
5. Stops medicines, supplies, systems building, staff support aiding >90 million women and children to get low cost vaccinations, prenatal care, safe childbirth, contraception, and other basic lifesaving health needs. https://www.usaid.gov/PreventingChildandMaternalDeaths
During a Sub Sahara drought I lived in Niger. I worked with USAID. Mothers came with starving children, starving babies, starving mothers. We gave them food. People will die without USAID. So Elon can play games.
And that's one of the reasons they want it gone--can't be having another epidemic now can we? People will literally be dying and hospitals won't have a clue as to why.
Indiana now has a poultry farm that has 2 million chickens infected. The news says they’ve blocked off 6 miles around it. I live 30 miles from the damn place. 🤬
The people affected are mostly non white “foreigners”. They are not important to Americans who want to buy more stuff to put in storage facilities. Definitely not important to Trump.
I won't recite the whole "First they came for the immigrants..." thing here. But clearly we need to raise folks' understanding that nobody's immune in the long run.
Please go on TV everywhere, and tell this to people. And also about how vital drug research and clinical trials have been halted, keeping people here in the US from getting lifesaving treatments
It really is a shame that so many individuals in control of these things are so willfully complying. How would he know if they did not stop work? Is he visiting Tanzania to insist?
For the love of God, @nbcnews.com, @abcnewslive.bsky.social, @cnn.com, @cbsnewsconfirmed.bsky.social - will you *please* start reporting on this and letting Americans know how deeply destructive this is? What are you waiting for?
@MSNBC IS covering it and noting that if we don't help, we lose integral security info on the ground in the areas we serve. Also, it allows those who are our enemies to step into the gap and gain influence and control.
Read all of this! Protecting others protects all of us. What this regime is doing is not only cruel, it’s dangerous globally. The incompetence is astounding.
Please call you Senators and Representatives, and the White House, about what Trump and Musk are doing: The comment line doesn't open until Tuesday https://www.congress.gov/members
I'm questioning why employees of DOGE, which is still not a legitimate governmental agency, also gained access to the rolls of people on Medicaid and social security? Maybe to purge the people on those programs?
SS and Medicaid/Medicare expenditures are the biggest items in the federal budget. Reducing those expenditures increases the money available for tax cuts or deficit reduction.
SS is separated into its own exclusive trust and is not part of Fed expenditures, tho sometimes included only for show.. SSA that handles administration of the trust is part of the Fed Budget, and i think Medicare is too..
Thank you, Atul, for this thread. This just in the health arena - and the same trauma in other USAID sectors. It’s incomprehensible and shows how much the new gang just wants to destroy.
Thank you for being here. I love your books and am a big fan of your work. You are insightful, compassionate and relentless. We need more of that. Following and glad to have access to accurate, evidence-based info from such an admirable expert.
Yes it does and we knew he would do everything he could to burn the government and country to the ground. He killed people in his first term and he will kill more this time expect millions of deaths.
Many Americans think they are going to die due to a zombie apocalypse or nuclear war & I'm like, nah man, you're going to die from a completely preventable/treatable disease, like strep throat.
Enough shock and awe. Take Action Now! Start with the first issue. Call all your Senators and Representatives (Dem or Rep) tomorrow and every day after! Bring back #NIH #CDC #WHO #USAID. Stop them from gambling with our health and our lives. #health #priorities
What if everybody just kept doing their jobs and ignored his orders? He’s assumed people will comply and he’s terrible at following up. Once he announces he did something, he’s ready to move on.
Everyone blames the Dems for not stopping this - but it’s the GOP who are facilitating and enabling this. Why isn’t it their fault? They’re not speaking up either.
This who situation is unspeakable. I can’t bear it.
Do you also winge and ask your opponents to stop doing glass shattering slam dunks on you or do you tell your teammates to get off the bench and play some fucking D?
But I also recognize the difference between understanding what 1 party can do (& admittedly they are not being very effective) but putting BLAME where it belongs.
It's important to recognise that the rise of far right parties (including outside the US) is a failure of the entire mainstream political system. Problem is that all mainstream parties are now either right wing or centrist, and centrism can never defeat right wing politics in a democratic system
Centrism asks for compromise and dialogue, right wing populism just makes stuff up that sounds good. The latter will always win over voters more than the former, as we've seen time and time again around the world
Thank you for this resume. How shocking for the US to abandon the vulnerable this way. It breaks my heart and I hope someone can step in (loved your book Being Mortal. Its message has really stayed with me)
When did the United States taxpayers have a choice in supporting prenatal care and contraception in other countries that you speak of. Who says that THE U.S. is responsible for those women having sex. We never got to vote on how their taxes are being spent. With PRESIDENT TRUMP, we have a voice.
You have a vote every two years for your U.S. representative who sits in the House -- the body that has to initiate spending bills. This person lives in your state. You can literally walk into their office and let them know what you think. That's having a voice.
You’re fooling yourself if you think you have a voice. Trump doesn’t give a damn about you or anyone you love. I hope to god you or someone you know doesn’t get diagnosed with cancer, especially a rare one. This won’t go well for regular Americans who just want to live happy lives.
It doesnt matter. The damage has already been done. And it assumes that there is a judicial system (or competent political opposition) interested in investigating its legality. You dont stop fascism by pointing out that what they do is illegal.
our local planned parenthood is struggling for funding, and our local soup kitchen is always out of food. why isnt this money going to help american citizens?
It is not either or. There is plenty of state and federal grant funding available for health services and food relief in the US. Our foreign assistance helps the most vulnerable people in the world.
Until there aren't the people to buy thier product, or a country like China steps into the void and expands its belt and road iniative. The US will lose geoplitcal power. Short term MAGA won't care, but then prices will rise. Inflation will spiral. And another depression will hit.
They’re already in a depression of mentality that they’ve locked themselves into. It’s such severe brainwashing that no circumstances around them exist until their leader tells them it does.They’ll be praising the economy as their children starve.
HE DOESN’T CARE! Also, he won’t listen if it’s explained to him, nor would he understand how. He’s just nod and say “OK” and change nothing, because HE DOESN’T CARE!
And to make matters far worse, 🇺🇸 no longer supporting @who.int efforts. These are dark days (years?) for Global Health efforts. Years of achievements will vaporize in months.
What Americans fail to realize is that this aid doesn’t just save lives, they contribute to a front line defence in infectious diseases and help keep Americans safe. It’s shortsighted and cruel
@agawande.bsky.social
I would go further to say only MAGA Americans are human beings under this administration. Based on what we're seeing with native Americans, DEI, etc. but I get your point.
Who said anything about entitlement? It’s about doing the right thing and meeting commitments to provide assistance to developing countries. The US is one of the worst among OECD countries in meeting those commitments, along with my own country.
Make no mistake. Trump is going to try and coerce and blackmail foreign countries that want US aid into putting money in his pocket, or the pocket of his oligarch friends, just like Putin does.
The programs being funded are currently halted. Trump will then reapprove funding for "some", take full credit for this "generosity", and other program will die, which will fade into the background. This will allow Trump to offset the tax cuts he is about to announce, for the wealthy and powerful.
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Now it is all is suspended.
But I am sure that eggs are going to be soooooo cheap now! Hooray, America First!
What are we going to do about it?
Stop a car, or soap, or electronic product like, or any production like *90 days* as a new CEO? Lol, what? No one competent is going to do that.
Elon knows nothing about our system of cooperation with other countries
What a nightmare
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The thing about fascists are they lack imagination, no creativity
They look at what others do and repeat the playbook
The fewer of them, the more he likes it.
Thank you for speaking out.
https://www.congress.gov/members
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=us+congress+members+by+state&atb=v314-1&ia=web
https://www.usa.gov/agencies/white-house
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
It's kinda confusing.
https://www.ssa.gov/history/BudgetTreatment.html
This who situation is unspeakable. I can’t bear it.
🙄🙄🙄
I don’t whinge.
But I also recognize the difference between understanding what 1 party can do (& admittedly they are not being very effective) but putting BLAME where it belongs.
I’m also not an asshole like you.
Tomorrow? Probably us, given that they've taken control of the Treasury payment system.
In a week? Probably Russia, if they aren't already.
What will Congress do?
Nevermind. We see what they'll do 🙈🙉🙊
Nothing anyone says will change that.
He lacks basic human decency.
The people holding him up — including all the voters — need to see.
https://bsky.app/profile/wyl.bsky.social/post/3lgnzgqpypc2m
Well, that is what the Joe haters wanted.
Look at what he is doing with Columbia today.
@agawande.bsky.social
After all, they benefit.