WASHINGTON (AP) — On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would assist with the response to the devastating earthquake in Southeast Asia.
However, the impact of his administration’s significant reductions in foreign aid via the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department may soon be put to the test as they respond to this major natural disaster during his second term.
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, March 28, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Sarah Charles, a former senior official at USAID who directed disaster-response operations during the Biden administration, remarked that the current system has become “chaotic,” lacking the personnel and resources necessary for rapid rescue efforts amidst collapsed structures to save lives.
On Friday, a potent earthquake struck Myanmar and adjacent Thailand, leading to the deaths of over 150 individuals and trapping countless others under the debris from high-rise buildings.
When questioned about the earthquake by reporters in Washington, Trump responded: “We’re going to be helping. We’ve already alerted the people. It’s truly tragic what has occurred.”
Rescuers work at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
At the State Department, spokesperson Tammy Bruce informed reporters that the administration would base its response to the quake on requests for assistance and information from the region.
“USAID has retained a team of disaster experts ready to respond should disaster occur,” Bruce stated. “These expert teams deliver immediate aid, including food and safe drinking water, essential for saving lives after a disaster.”
Regardless of budget cuts, “our ability to fulfill these responsibilities has not been hindered,” Bruce affirmed.
However, it was also on Friday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jeremy Lewin, a former associate of Elon Musk who is now in a senior role at USAID, informed staff and Congress about plans to terminate most remaining USAID employees and transfer ongoing agency programs to the State Department.
Patients are evacuated outdoors at a hospital after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Tadchakorn Kitchaiphon)
The Trump administration, in collaboration with Musk’s teams, has drastically cut down foreign aid since the onset of Trump’s presidency on January 20. The widespread layoffs, forced leaves, and abrupt cancellation of numerous contracts have plunged much of the global aid and development sector into disarray, leaving U.S. partners scrambling to fill the void left by USAID and the billions in outstanding payments for previous work.
Following the earthquake in Turkey and Syria in 2023, USAID-supported civilian teams from Los Angeles County and Fairfax County, Virginia, trained in urban search and rescue, hurried to offer assistance in recovering survivors from the debris.
Typically, those teams can mobilize within 24 hours, Charles noted.
While intervention from lawmakers and others preserved contracts for the civilian search-and-rescue teams, it is believed that contracts for special transport required to deliver search teams, dogs, and heavy equipment to disaster sites have been cut, Charles stated.
Additionally, staffing reductions at USAID have severely weakened the teams that would usually coordinate with allies to direct rescue and response operations on the ground, according to Charles.
Other foreign aid contract cuts by the administration have also adversely impacted emergency disaster response services, including those involving the United Nations.
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AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed.
