Trump to Scale Back Planned Foreign Aid Cuts After Pompeo Plea
- Pompeo persuaded Trump cuts would hurt U.S. national security
- Aid cuts to total a few hundred million dollars, people said
Michael Pompeo
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
President Donald Trump agreed to drastically scale back plans to slash billions of dollars in foreign assistance after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo persuaded him against the move, two people familiar with the matter said.
After speaking with Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday, Trump agreed to limit the cuts to a few hundred million dollars, overruling demands by the Office of Management and Budget to reduce foreign-assistance spending by more than $4 billion. The cuts will be limited to Pakistan and countries in Central America, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations.