President Trump’s administration is using international contributions to replace $230 million of its own foreign aid to Syria, the State Department announced Friday.
The department plans to withhold the money following new pledges of $100 million and $50 million from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, respectively. U.S. officials have raised about $300 million internationally for Syrian aid since April, when the American contribution was placed “under review” by the administration.
“This decision was made by the secretary, in consultation with the White House, and took into account the already significant military and financial contributions made by the United States to date, the president’s guidance on the need to increase burden sharing with allies and partners, and significant new pledges made by Coalition partners,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. “Working with Congress, the State Department will redirect these funds to support other key foreign policy priorities.”
Trump decided to retain a U.S. presence in Syria in order to finish the destruction of the Islamic State and counter Iran’s surge into the country, but complaints about the cost of American commitments overseas are a centerpiece of his attempt to recalibrate U.S. foreign policy.
“The countries that are there that you all know very well are immensely wealthy; they’re going to have to pay for this,” he said during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in May.
The funding shift does not signal a step away from Syria, Nauert emphasized, nor does it amount to an actual cut in foreign aid spending overall.
“The president has made clear that we are prepared to remain in Syria until the enduring defeat of ISIS, and we remain focused on ensuring the withdrawal of Iranian forces and their proxies,” she said. “This decision does not affect U.S. humanitarian assistance.”
The outreach to Saudi Arabia for aid money comes as some lawmakers want the United States to back away from support for the Saudi-led coalition’s war against Iranian proxies in Yemen, particularly in the wake of a recent airstrike on a school bus.
“Either the Pentagon should be 100% certain that U.S. weapons and funding aren’t being used to commit war crimes in Yemen, or we should cut off U.S. support right now,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Friday. “Forty-four innocent kids are now dead, joining the thousands of other civilians who have been murdered by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.”
