United States President Donald Trump’s turning off of the aid tap has sparked concerns about its long-term impact on humanitarian assistance and development support in Southeast Asia. For now, the shutdown on foreign aid has driven at least one climate journalism network to take a pause on approving and issuing reporting and training grants.
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International non-profit Internews has suspended sub-grants and contracts for climate journalists starting 27 January, Eco-Business has learnt.
“We are unable to draw down the funding for our work and must pause all activities funded by US government resources,” read an email notification to journalists who had previously qualified for awards of financial assistance for environmental reporting in the region. In the email seen by Eco-Business, Internews said that the decision is due to an executive order handed down by Trump on 20 January, hours after he took office, in which he ordered a 90-day pause on all existing US foreign development assistance programmes to conduct a review.
“[We] received information that the government will be issuing stop work orders for all international assistance awards,” said Internews.
The Washington-headquartered media development organisation, which provides financing for journalism that tackles corruption, health and the environment, has primarily US-based donors. Impacted journalists were meant to receive assistance and mentorship support under a programme known as STRIDES (short for “Strengthening Transparency in Infrastructure Development through Environmental Reporting in Southeast Asia”) which is financed by the US Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.
Rjay Zuriaga Castor, a freelance journalist from the Philippines who had his approved grant withdrawn by Internews, said the suspension was “disheartening”.
Castor’s proposed story was about the Boracay Bridge project, which the Philippines government is planning to build for easier transit from tourist island Boracay to the province of Aklan. The plan has been met with protests from fisherfolk whose catch would be affected by the construction as well as from locals who said that the project will put the island’s fragile coral reef and marine ecosystem at risk.
“I was about to begin my fieldwork when we were informed that the funding would be put on hold until further notice,” Castor told Eco-Business. He said the STRIDES grant under the Earth Journalism Network (EJN) which was set up by Internews in 2004 was essential for producing a short documentary and an article for Philippines media outlet Daily Guardian.
“[The suspension] could have far-reaching consequences for climate reporting in developing Asia,” added Castor. “Developing countries such as the Philippines often face the brunt of climate change impacts, making robust journalism even more critical… With less coverage of climate and sustainability issues, public awareness and discourse may stagnate.”
Eco-Business has reached out to Internews for further comments, including to find out if other journalism grants and programmes have been affected by Trump’s foreign aid freeze.
So far, media reports have highlighted similar journalism projects being suspended, such as those run by Cambodian civil society groups and organisations, including the Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) and Cambodian rights group Adhoc. It adds to the pressure that these groups are already facing due to a worsening government crackdown on independent reporting.
Could USAID row impact non-profits in Asia?
According to Eco-Business’s checks, Internews’ operations and projects are also partially funded by the United States Agency for Development (USAID), which in recent days have come under the spotlight as an attack target by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk.
Musk, appointed by Trump to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has been wrestling for control of the agency, calling the agency a “criminal organisation” on his social media platform X.
What is USAID?
USAID was established in 1961 by Democratic president John F Kennedy at the height of the Cold War with the aim of better coordinating foreign assistance, already a key platform of US foreign policy in countering Soviet influence.
It now administers about 60 per cent of US foreign assistance and disbursed US$43.79bn in the 2023 fiscal year. According to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report this month, its workforce of 10,000, about two-thirds of whom serve overseas, assisted about 130 countries. USAID is funded by the US Congress, based on administration requests. It is the world’s largest single donor.
The humanitarian agency, which is also the world’s largest single aid donor, has closed its headquarters to staff since Monday, as a result of the repeated threats. A memo was issued advising agency personnel to work remotely.
On Monday, US secretary of state Marco Rubio was named acting administrator of USAID after the Trump administration confirmed that it had plans to merge the agency into the state department in a major revamp that would align its spending with the president’s priorities.
The high-profile clash as well as Trump’s executive order to re-evaluate foreign aid have caused confusion, including rattling those in Southeast Asia who receive critical humanitarian assistance and funding from the US such as for disaster aid relief and pro-democracy activism.
However, non-profits and organisations operating in the region that Eco-Business has reached out to so far say the developments have had little visible impact on sustainability-related funding.
Indonesia-based waste collection company Prevented Ocean Plastic, which is directly funded by USAID, said the ongoing row has not affected its projects.
“I personally believe that after the review, programmes related to waste and its impact will continue, not just because of the urgent need, but also because five out of the top 10 fast moving consumer goods companies producing packaging waste are from the US,” said Alvaro Aguilar, head of business development and logistics at the organisation. He listed well-known brands like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, P&G, Mondelez and Mars.

US Senator Chris Murphy speaks before furloughed employees in front of the USAID building in Washington DC on Monday. Image: David Starry
However, beyond climate funding, observers say there could be broad and long-term impacts on health and food security-related assistance in the region. Grace Stanhope, research associate of independent think tank Lowy Institute, in an interview with Radio Free Asia, described the potential dent on funding on Southeast Asia’s poorest countries such as those in the Mekong region as “devastating”.
She said that US aid to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam had finally eclipsed China’s aid for the first time since 2015 in 2022 and was showing modest growth before Trump’s return to the White House. Japan provides more to those countries, but the US had gradually increased its aid from US$380 million in 2015 to almost US$520 million in 2022.
In the Philippines, media outlets have reported that the foreign aid freeze will impact at least 39 development projects. Environmental protection and health programmes are on the line; there were seven conservation or environment-related projects that were allotted about US$19.5 million in funds last year.
Bernadette Victorio, programme lead for Fair Finance Asia (FFA), told Eco-Business that even if the impacts of Trump’s policies are not felt among organisations in developing Asia for now, the rise of right-wing governments in the West could create a “ripple effect” in the region. FFA is a regional network of over 90 Asian civil society organisations that advocates for a fairer and more sustainable financial ecosystem.
Victorio said the expanding influence of right-wing regimes like Trump’s has resulted in a rethink of how funds and resources are redistributed. “That impacts a lot of the work in this space. It sends a very clear message that funding for critical life-saving resources and livelihoods that can aggravate inequality in the global south is not a priority.”