MxM News

Quick Hit:

The Trump administration has announced the elimination of more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) foreign aid contracts, amounting to $60 billion in cuts. The administration argues the decision targets “significant waste” while realigning U.S. foreign assistance to better serve American interests.

Key Details:

• Over 5,800 of 6,200 USAID contract awards will be terminated, totaling $54 billion in cuts.
• An additional $4.4 billion will be cut from State Department grants, impacting 4,100 of 9,100 programs.
• The administration claims the cuts will curb waste and enhance efficiency, while critics argue it undermines U.S. global influence and humanitarian efforts.

Diving Deeper:

The Trump administration’s decision to cut more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts marks a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy, aligning with President Donald Trump’s commitment to reducing federal government spending and prioritizing domestic interests. In total, $60 billion will be slashed from U.S. assistance programs worldwide, impacting thousands of development and humanitarian projects.

According to an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press, the administration described the cuts as a necessary measure to address “significant waste stemming from decades of institutional drift.” The memo also highlighted plans to restructure how USAID and the State Department distribute foreign aid, emphasizing a strategy to “use taxpayer dollars wisely to advance American interests.”

This sweeping reduction includes the termination of 5,800 out of 6,200 multiyear USAID contracts, amounting to $54 billion in cuts. An additional $4.4 billion will be eliminated from State Department grants, affecting 4,100 programs. The administration’s actions reflect its broader agenda to reduce U.S. involvement in international development, a stance supported by key Trump ally Elon Musk, who has argued that USAID projects often advance a liberal agenda at the expense of American taxpayers.

Despite strong support from conservative circles, the decision has faced criticism from international aid organizations, advocacy groups, and some members of Congress. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, accused the administration of attempting to bypass congressional and judicial authority by swiftly terminating the contracts.

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a lower court’s order requiring the administration to release billions in foreign aid by midnight, allowing the cuts to proceed while legal battles continue. The court’s decision comes after U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali ordered the administration to unfreeze funds following a lawsuit by nonprofit groups and businesses owed payments on USAID contracts.

This move marks one of the most substantial reductions in U.S. foreign assistance in modern history, raising questions about its impact on global health initiatives, counterterrorism efforts, and international alliances. The Trump administration, however, maintains that the cuts are necessary to eliminate waste and redirect resources to strengthen American interests at home and abroad.

Sam Cooper

In a stunning move just days before the Trump administration is set to impose sweeping tariffs over Mexico’s role in America’s fentanyl crisis, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum engineered the largest single-day extradition of cartel leaders in history, delivering 29 top-level traffickers—including one of the most notorious figures in modern drug war history—into U.S. custody.

Among those flown north on Mexican military aircraft Thursday was Rafael Caro Quintero, the infamous cartel boss accused of ordering the brutal 1985 torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena, a crime dramatized in the Netflix series Narcos: Mexico. Other high-profile extraditees include Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, alleged brother of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader “El Mencho,” as well as key leaders from the Zetas, the Gulf Cartel, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.

In Washington, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi hailed the mass extradition as a turning point in the war on cartel violence. “As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs,” Bondi said in a press release. “We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers—and in some cases, given their lives—to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels.”

DEA Acting Administrator Derek S. Maltz declared, “Today, 29 fugitive cartel members have arrived in the United States from Mexico, including one name that stands above the rest for the men and women of the DEA—Rafael Caro Quintero. This moment is extremely personal for the men and women of DEA who believe Caro Quintero is responsible for the brutal torture and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena.”

The defendants are collectively accused of importing massive amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin into the United States, along with a litany of violent crimes including murder, money laundering, and illegal weapons trafficking. The Justice Department noted that many of these cartel leaders had long-standing U.S. extradition requests that were not honored during prior administrations but were accelerated following direct White House pressure.

As the Mexican delegation, including Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente and security chief Omar García Harfuch, met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, the mass extradition signaled Sheinbaum’s readiness to make dramatic concessions to avert Trump’s threatened tariffs. The unprecedented handover also coincided with the State Department formally designating six cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Award-winning Mexican journalist Ioan Grillo, reporting on Sheinbaum’s transformative move, cited comments from Mike Vigil, former head of the DEA’s international operations, saying, “This is the highest number of extraditions [in one day] in the history of Mexico, without question. This is historic. … These guys unleashed a river of blood… Everybody is elated with the extraditions.”

However, the decision has ignited controversy within Mexico’s legal community, Grillo reported, noting longstanding criminal defense stances were “bulldozed.”

Juan Manuel Delgado, lawyer for Miguel Ángel Treviño, one of the most feared Zetas leaders, called the move an assault on Mexican sovereignty. “My client’s extradition tramples on due process and demonstrates that Mexico is bending entirely to U.S. will,” Delgado reportedly told CrashOut magazine.

Notably, while Mexico typically secures agreements that extradited criminals will not face the death penalty, the U.S. statement made no such assurances, raising the possibility that figures like Caro Quintero could face capital punishment.

While Mexico is in the crosshairs of Trump’s fentanyl crackdown, attention is also turning to Canada’s underreported role in the continent’s cartel problem. Organized crime experts say that over the past 15 years, cartel networks have deeply infiltrated Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec, using Canada as both a fentanyl production hub and a gateway to launder cartel proceeds. It’s a little-known fact that the cartels started to gain presence in Canadian narco-trafficking cells almost 50 years ago, one expert told The Bureau.

However, it remains unclear whether Canada’s newly appointed Fentanyl Commissioner, Kevin Brosseau, has made any significant progress in responding to Trump’s demands for tougher action. An expert who could not be named due to the sensitivities of investigations and political discussions said cartels have thrived under Canada’s lax enforcement and weak financial crime controls. The question now is whether Brosseau will have any real impact on the concerns or simply be part of “performative” meetings run out of Ottawa, they said.

With Trump’s administration signaling that Canada will be hit next week with economic penalties if fentanyl production and money laundering continue unchecked, the Trudeau government faces growing pressure to show concrete results in combating cartel expansion within its borders.