Return to Trumpworld: Who will shape US aid policy?
As U.S. President-elect Donald Trump fills out his Cabinet with loyalists, firebrands, and provocateurs, the U.S. government’s foreign assistance community is rife with speculation about whom he will pick to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development.
While USAID’s top job is always closely watched, in Trump’s second presidential transition it seems to carry almost existential weight. Will Trump choose someone invested in U.S. global development leadership and politically savvy enough to make a case for its value? Or will he hand USAID’s keys to a disrupter with a mandate to dismantle the agency and free up funds for other priorities?
And of course, since this is the Trump administration we’re talking about, there is always the possibility for something totally unpredictable.
Trump has already named a few top officials who will have influence over aid-related decisions from key foreign policy posts. And while many are jockeying to land USAID’s big job, that is not the only role for global development influencers in a new administration. Trump will eventually name new heads of the International Development Finance Corporation, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and other foreign assistance agencies — while other appointees work behind the scenes to remake foreign assistance for the "Make America Great Again," or MAGA, era.
And where does Elon Musk fit into all this?
Based on numerous conversations with foreign aid insiders — and months of reporting on conservative aid plans prior to the election — here are some of the people who could shape U.S. foreign aid policy when Trump returns to the White House in January. ➡️
David Beasley
Résumé: Straight-talking former head of the World Food Programme and former Republican governor of South Carolina. Under his leadership, the WFP won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2020. Known for convincing governments to pony up the cash and sparring with Elon Musk on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
X factor: Most aid advocates would breathe a sigh of relief if Trump tapped an experienced agency leader with a track record of convincing skeptics that development is a good investment. The question is simple: Is that who Trump wants?
On the record: “My goal was to put the World Food Programme out of business. What’s my exit strategy so that we’re no longer needed here?”
➡️ Read: David Beasley believes the US can once again lead on foreign aid (Pro)
Bill Steiger
Résumé: USAID chief of staff under Mark Green, former chief program officer at Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, godson of former President George H. W. Bush. Known as a behind-the-scenes operator with an unrivaled grasp of U.S. foreign assistance regulations, Steiger is a strong advocate for changing how USAID spends its money.
X factor: If Steiger lands an influential role, it could be a sign that Trump’s “government efficiency” reform agenda is coming to a foreign assistance agency near you.
On the record: "USAID’s current system of grantmaking and contracting has created an oligopoly of large, U.S.-based implementers that are expensive, inefficient, and largely unaccountable for their performance."
Ted Yoho
Résumé: He is a former Republican representative from Florida, large animal veterinarian, and key backer of the U.S. Development Finance Corporation. He co-chaired the Congressional Caucus for Effective Foreign Assistance. Known for his sharp pivot from fervent foreign aid opponent to champion of reforms to spur private-sector investment.
X factor: Yoho speaks the language of the foreign aid skeptic — in the interview with my colleague linked below, the veterinarian by training even talks about “euthanizing” foreign assistance. Yoho’s vision for economic growth-led aid could be a strong sales pitch in Trump’s White House.
On the record: “Unlocking the power of the free market to achieve sustained economic growth is the only lasting solution to eradicate extreme poverty, and it puts our partners on a path to move from aid to trade.”
➡️ Read: US Representative Ted Yoho on his foreign aid philosophy
Max Primorac
Résumé: Project 2025 lead author, former USAID senior official, envoy of former Vice President Mike Pence. Known for accusing Democrats of using aid for “social re-engineering,” arguing that aid budgets are too big, and leading the charge to channel more U.S. funds to religious minorities in the Middle East.
X factor: For Trump, Primorac checks two boxes: anti-woke culture warrior and advocate for budget-cutting reforms. In doing so, he poses a challenge to both foreign aid bipartisanship and the development community he has charged with political bias.
On the record: “This entire aid industry, both on the government side and on the contractor-grantee side, has become a one-party industry.”
➡️ Read: A US conservative's plan to beat the 'aid industrial complex' (Pro)
Michelle Bekkering
Résumé: National engagement director for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, former USAID assistant administrator for economic growth, and 12-year veteran of the International Republican Institute. Worked closely with Ivanka Trump to create the White House-led Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.
X factor: At USGLC, Bekkering has made the conservative’s case for investing more, not less, in U.S. foreign assistance. But few expect anything but budget cuts from this Trump administration.
On the record: "What we support is international investments — with a return on that investment."
➡️ Read: US launches women's economic development initiative, questions remain
Sean Cairncross
Résumé: Former CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, deputy assistant to President Trump, senior White House adviser to the chief of staff, and chief operating officer of the Republican National Committee.
X factor: Cairncross’ nomination to lead MCC during the first Trump administration languished in the Senate, leaving the agency without a confirmed leader for more than two years. During that process, Cairncross reassured lawmakers that he intended to maintain MCC as a “performance-based, professional organization,” and that he was “not looking to politicize it.”
On the record: “People are here because they like the mission. That's an invigorating environment to be in because there aren’t sort of the typical D.C. turf wars for control.”
➡️ Read: What to expect from the Millennium Challenge Corporation in 2020
Bonnie Glick
Résumé: Former USAID deputy administrator, State Department foreign service officer, and Maryland politician. Known for pro-Israel and anti-China positions, championing digital transformation, and being ousted from USAID in a “Game of Thrones"-like power struggle during Trump’s chaotic final year.
X factor: Since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas last year, Glick has amped up her criticism of the United Nations, accusing U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres of anti-Israel bias and for presiding “over a fundamentally corrupt global bureaucracy.”
On the record: "What I have learned over the decades is that the world of the United Nations and its web of agencies and affiliates is mobilized in ways that serve to enrich a small cadre of corrupt international bureaucrats and to deplete American coffers."
➡️ Read: USAID will be 'irrelevant' if it doesn't engage on China, says former deputy
Jim Richardson
Résumé: Former director of the State Department's Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources, coordinator of USAID's Transformation Task Team, and close aide to Mike Pompeo. Known for leading the largest-ever restructuring of USAID, advocating for better coordination of U.S. aid agencies, and telling U.S. development partner countries that if they work with China, “it is bad.”
X factor: Richardson has argued for a more empowered USAID administrator with oversight of all U.S. foreign assistance. But it is unclear what Trump’s decision to deny a Cabinet position for Richardson’s mentor — Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — means for his future with the administration.
On the record: “We really do need to make sure that we are creating a much more unified response in our assistance efforts.”
➡️ Read: What the US election means for global development (Pro)
Valerie Huber
Résumé: Founder of the Institute for Women's Health, architect of the anti-abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration, Trump’s U.S. special representative for global women's health. Known for abstinence-only campaigning, friendships with “pro-family” world leaders, and stripping sexual and reproductive rights language from U.N. agreements.
X factor: Huber is widely credited with keeping the Geneva Consensus Declaration alive for the last four years. Her role for the next four could indicate how hard the Trump administration plans to push anti-abortion policies through its diplomacy and development programs.
On the record: “Why are we arguing about abortion when we should be much more concerned about making sure that there are clinics, skilled health workers, necessary medications, electricity, running water?”
➡️ Read: Inside the global anti-abortion coalition preparing for Trump’s return
Dan Runde
Résumé: Longtime Republican development strategist and think tanker, former senior USAID and International Finance Corporation official, author of a book on American soft power. Known for looking at foreign assistance through a lens of great power competition and helping to create the U.S. DFC.
X factor: In 2016, Runde signed onto a letter of Republican national security experts who vowed to oppose Trump’s candidacy. He’s changed his tune since then, with Trump campaign donations and another open letter this year lauding Trump as a “peacemaker.”
On the record: "The United States needs an alternative positive narrative, rather than a demand that developing nations cease working with China, who is likely their top trading partner and debt holder."
➡️ Listen: Dan Runde on 'The American Imperative'
David Bohigian
Résumé: Impact investor, and former acting president and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation — the U.S. government agency that became the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation in December 2019.
X factor: Bohigian led the implementation of the BUILD Act — the law that replaced OPIC with DFC and opened a new chapter in the U.S. government’s approach to development finance. That all happened during the first Trump administration, and the next one will likely see DFC’s reauthorization.
On the record: “Clearly, development finance has become a larger part of our foreign policy toolkit, and it's appropriate to have debates about what our policies and our strategies are.”
➡️ Read: From 'chopping block' to 'starting block' — David Bohigian on his time at OPIC
John Barsa
Résumé: Former USAID acting administrator and Latin America lead, senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, and sugar lobbyist. Barsa rose to prominence in the U.S. aid community when he leapfrogged into the role of acting USAID administrator for the last nine months of Trump’s presidency. His tenure was marked by controversial political appointments, internal power struggles, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
X factor: Barsa made enemies during his time at the top of USAID, and the agency’s workforce was eager to put the daily drama behind them.
On the record: “The United States stands with nations that have pledged to protect the unborn."
Brock Bierman
Résumé: Founder and CEO of humanitarian nonprofit Ukraine Focus, former USAID lead for Europe and Eurasia, and former Federal Emergency Management Agency official.
X factor: The future of U.S. aid to Ukraine is one of the highest-stakes unknowns of the presidential transition. Bierman has spent his post-USAID years keeping up the fight.
On the record: "I told them we would support them in their struggle for democracy, human rights, and civilization, and help them wrench free from the totalitarian past under the imperial domination of Russian dictators, corruption, and aggressive chauvinism."
➡️ Read: USAID 'countering Kremlin' framework is not about Russia, officials say
Eddy Acevedo
Résumé: Right-hand man to Mark Green, former national security adviser at USAID, and former senior professional staffer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
X factor: Many expect closer links between U.S. foreign assistance and U.S. national security under Trump. That can generate White House support for U.S. aid agencies — or it can put them at the mercy of other White House priorities.
On the record: "We need to stop acting as though the security threats presented by uncontrolled migration only exist at the U.S.– Mexico border."
Ken Staley
Résumé: Senior counselor at Palantir Technologies, former U.S. global malaria coordinator, and executive director of USAID’s COVID-19 Task Force.
X factor: The COVID-19 pandemic upended the final year of Trump’s first administration. Will the White House internalize that lesson and lean into pandemic preparedness?
On the record: "As long as we have a pandemic disease circulating anywhere, we have a threat everywhere."
Trump has named the Cabinet officials who will carry out his vision. These three will shape his approach to foreign policy, international engagement, and health.
Marco Rubio
Résumé: Three-term senator from Florida, son of Cuban immigrants, hawkish on China and Iran. Trump’s pick to be the next U.S. secretary of state.
X factor: Which Marco Rubio will we get? The one who has co-sponsored multiple pieces of legislation to support and reform U.S. aid programs? Or the one who has tacked toward an “America First” agenda, including by opposing a big foreign aid bill earlier this year?
On the record: “I think it's important for those of us who believe in global engagement and believe in the function of foreign aid to justify it, to never take it for granted, and to constantly examine it to make sure the money is being spent well and that it's worth spending at all.”
➡️ Read: ‘We can work with him’: Aid advocates react to Trump’s Rubio pick
Elise Stefanik
Résumé: Moderate-turned-MAGA, a six-term representative from New York, defender of Trump, and destroyer of Ivy League presidencies. Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
X factor: Five years ago, Trump called Stefanik a “new Republican star.” Now he’s plucked her from the House of Representatives to be his voice at the U.N. Does that signal high-level engagement or a broadside attack?
On the record: "The United States must stand with Israel's decision to ban Hamas-infiltrated UNRWA from operating in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Résumé: Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, founder of Children’s Health Defense and Waterkeeper. Known for debunked claims about vaccine safety, campaigns against corporate influence in health policy, and conspiracist views about COVID-19.
X factor: For the global health and development community, the big question is how much of Kennedy’s anti-health establishment worldview permeates into the international policy arena.
On the record:“Gates and Fauci have demonstrated that by controlling the media, billionaires and their government cronies can prolong a crisis forever and accumulate unprecedented wealth and power over humanity.”
Billionaire advisers, family members, former officials — Trump’s second administration could draw inspiration from some unconventional places.
Ric Grennell
Résumé: Trump loyalist, former acting director of national intelligence, and former U.S. ambassador to Germany. Known for causing chaos at the Millennium Challenge Corporation by pulling that agency’s development partnership with Kosovo into the middle of Balkan geopolitics.
X factor: After getting passed over as a potential secretary of state for Trump’s second term, will Grennell get a consolation post with influence over U.S. foreign assistance programs?
On the record: "Mind your own business, but be the leader. I want to see Washington, D.C. be the capital of America, not the capital of the world."
➡️ Read: Is the White House using MCC as a political bargaining chip? (Pro)
Ivanka Trump
Résumé: First daughter, creator of global women’s empowerment initiatives at USAID and the World Bank, businesswoman.
X factor: Ivanka Trump was a sought-after liaison between Trump’s inner circle and the development community during his last administration. She kept a lower profile during the 2024 campaign though, so it’s unclear if she will follow her father to the White House this time.
On the record: “The economic empowerment of women should not be viewed as a ‘woman’s issue.’ It's smart development assistance that benefits whole families, communities, and entire nations.”
➡️ Read: What has Trump’s flagship women’s initiative achieved so far?
Mark Green
Résumé: Former USAID administrator, former U.S. ambassador to Tanzania, president and CEO of the Wilson Center. Known for shielding USAID from political pressure, restructuring the agency, and embracing the “journey to self-reliance.”
X factor: Green’s Trump administration days may be over, but his advice for development leaders trying to navigate the MAGA landscape will be in high demand.
On the record: "Humanitarian assistance is a response, an immediate response — it's not an answer. The compassionate answer, and I think our job, is to dust off our development tools and adapt them to help displaced communities withstand future shocks."
Elon Musk
Résumé: Richest person in the world, builder of cars and rockets, Trump’s future “government efficiency” czar. Known for taking over social media platforms and posting offensive comments on them, getting satellite internet into warzones, and helping engineer Trump’s reelection.
X factor: How seriously should we take the Department of Government Efficiency? Is it mostly a meme or will it be a real effort to fundamentally change how the U.S. government works? Time will tell.
On the record: "If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it."
➡️ Read: Elon Musk-WFP Twitter 'feud' raises accountability questions
Story edited by:
Tania Kara
Copy edited by:
Sheri-kae McLeod
Creative direction by:
Patricia Esguerra
Production support by:
Mariane Samson
Image credits: Donald Trump: Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA, David Beasley: Sandra Blaser / World Economic Forum / CC BY-NC-SA , Bill Steiger: David Shankbone / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ted Yoho: United States Congress, Max Primorac: Max Primorac, Michelle Bekkering: USAID, Sean Carincross: Millenium Challenge Corporation, Bonnie Glick: USAID / CC BY-NC, Jim Richardson: U.S. Department of State, Valerie Huber: Valerie Huber, Dan Runde: CSIS / CC BY-NC-SA, David Bohigian: Overseas Private Investment Corporation, John Barsa: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Brock Bierman: Ukrainefocus / CC BY-SA, Eddy Acevedo: House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats, Ken Staley: U.S. Department of State, Marco Rubio: United States Senate, Elise Stefanik: United States House of Representatives, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Gage Skidmore, Ric Grennell: Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Ivanka Trump: Shealah Craighead / Official White House Photo, Mark Green: USAID, Elon Musk: Debbie Rowe / The Royal Society / CC BY-SA
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