Trump administration diverts Ukraine-linked aid funds to Latin America

The Trump administration has redirected $52 million in US aid originally approved for Ukraine-linked allies and Middle Eastern countries to four Latin American nations, the Washington Post reported, citing three US officials who were not named because of the sensitivity of the internal deliberations. The money, initially earmarked for Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia and Iraq, will instead go to Panama, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, the newspaper reported.

The State Department notified Congress of its intentions in September, but Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Representative Gregory Meeks blocked the reallocation process, according to the Washington Post. Late on Wednesday, the administration told Congress it would proceed regardless of that objection, the officials told the newspaper.

Shaheen and Meeks objected in particular to redirecting funds earmarked for Slovakia and North Macedonia, which were part of a supplementary aid package for countries affected by the war in Ukraine. The senators said in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Congress had allocated the funds for a specific purpose, to support Ukraine and European allies after Russia's full-scale invasion, and that the executive branch does not have unlimited authority to redirect them to other priorities or countries, the newspaper reported.

In response, the State Department told the Washington Post that the funds would be used more effectively in Latin America, citing the administration's foreign policy approach of shifting priorities toward the Western Hemisphere. The department said reallocating funds from the Middle East and Europe was in line with the National Security Strategy, and that the shift would strengthen US security partnerships while countering rival military influence closer to American territory.

Tunisia and Iraq, the other two countries whose funds were redirected, were not mentioned in the senators' letter of objection, which focused specifically on the money earmarked for Slovakia and North Macedonia under the Ukraine-linked supplementary package.