In 2025, that architecture was effectively gutted. A sweeping executive freeze terminated nearly 97% of USAID's democracy and governance awards, totaling over $14 billion in cancelled programming that had been designed to support democratic processes and institutions. Despite the current administration's stated aim of achieving "efficiency," this drastic reduction led to the removal of the very personnel who were instrumental in ensuring transparency and combating corruption in foreign governments. The long-term implications of these cuts could severely undermine democratic progress, freedoms, and stability in regions that rely on the United States support for governance and reform. The 2025 USCIRF report highlights that the reduction in U.S. engagement has left religious minorities and human rights defenders more vulnerable to state-backed persecution.

The Balkans Case Study: Trading Aid for Assets

Nowhere is this shift more visible than in the Western Balkans. As the U.S. government withdrew its funding for Serbian civil society, a different kind of investment arrived.

• The Belgrade Hand-Off: Just as USAID’s anti-corruption oversight was zeroed out, Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, secured a 99-year lease on the historic Yugoslav Army HQ. Serbian lawmakers even passed a special "Lex Specialis" law in November 2025 to fast-track the $500 million luxury project, bypassing traditional heritage protections.

• The Albanian "Strategic Investor": In Albania, a $1.4 billion luxury resort on Sazan Island was granted "strategic investor" status by the government—a designation that offers zero taxes during construction and fast-tracked permits—right as U.S. judicial reform programs were suspended.

The Pay-to-Play Problem

The Senate Finance Committee revealed shocking figures. Affinity Partners, wholly owned by Jared Kushner, has accumulated around $157 million in management fees from foreign sovereign wealth funds, including $87 million from the Saudi government alone, yet has zero return on investment for its clients by late 2025. When a family-affiliated business earns millions in fees from foreign governments while those governments are being exempted from USAID oversight, the 'America First' motto begins to resemble a 'Family First'.

The Moral Leadership Gap

The public is catching on. A January 2026 Marist Poll shows that 57% of Americans believe the nation's international role has been weakened. Transparency International recently noted that the gutting of overseas aid has "weakened global anticorruption efforts," with the U.S. corruption perception score dropping as a result.

Reclaiming Accountability

Leadership is about building institutions that serve the public, not portfolios that serve the powerful. If the goal of dismantling USAID was to prevent "waste," we must ask why we’ve created a system that is far less transparent and far more prone to conflict of interest.

It’s time to demand that our foreign policy isn't for sale. We need to restore the oversight that protects both American values and American taxpayers.