The writer was permanent secretary of the Department for International Development from 2008-2011 and is leading a review of international development for the UK government

The wanton destruction of the US Agency for International Development by the Trump administration is misguided, shortsighted and will have devastating consequences for millions of poor people around the world. It is a more extreme version of the decision taken by Boris Johnson in 2020 to merge the UK’s Department for International Development with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office while imposing massive cuts. But it will result in even worse outcomes — reputational damage, the loss of American soft power, and the destruction of capability to address global problems that inevitably spill over on to national shores. 

Other than urging the Trump administration to rethink its approach, what should the rest of the world do in response? In the near term, the most pressing issue is to save the lives now at risk given the US represents 40 per cent of the world’s humanitarian spending. Such spending accounted for around 10 per cent of total aid in 2012. Global conflict means that by 2023 this figure had risen to 25 per cent.