JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump has decided to freeze aid funds abroad through the US International Development Agency (USAID).
He argued that the United States had given billions of dollars to US "hateful countries".
"I have decided to immediately freeze the recruitment of federal employees, federal regulations, and foreign aid," Trump said in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington on Saturday (22/2).
"We give billions of dollars to countries that hate us," he added, as reported by ANTARA.
Trump defended the US government's move to dissolve USAID and thousands of its employees were laid off.
He said he had closed the body which he called the "left wing fraud".
"The name of the agency has been removed from the former building, and the place will now accommodate Customs and Excise officers and Border Patrols," Trump said.
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He praised his efforts to stop waste of the budget by establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by billionaire Elon Musk.
In his speech, Trump also praised Musk, whom he called "doing a great job," and mentioned a number of overseas programs that he considered wasteful on the budget.
Among the programs is the conservation of biodiversity and social behavior responsible for Colombia which spent a budget of US$25 million (around Rp408 billion).
"This is Colombia in South America, not Columbia University (in the US)," he said.
The US government is also uncovering fraud in the Social Security system, Trump said, promising that under his leadership, there will be "no tolerance for fraud" there.
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