US freezes foreign aid programs, exempts Israel, Egypt: Reports

​​​​​​​By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US State Department paused nearly all foreign aid programs for 90 days, with exceptions granted for military assistance to Israel and Egypt, according to a leaked diplomatic cable cited by multiple reports Friday.

The directive, reportedly signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, requires all diplomatic and consular posts to issue “stop-work orders” for most existing foreign assistance programs, according to Politico, which obtained the internal memo.

The freeze is part of President Donald Trump’s executive order earlier this week, which called for a 90-day review of foreign aid spending to assess its alignment with US foreign policy priorities.

While the memo outlines exceptions for Israel and Egypt, which annually receive $3.3 billion and $1.3 billion in foreign military financing, respectively, aid to other key US allies, including Ukraine, Jordan and Taiwan, is reportedly affected.

The State Department has not yet immediately commented on the reports.