How is American ODA changing?

The US was the largest donor country in absolute terms in 2024. Relative to economic size, however, the US’ ODA is low, at 0.22% of GNI in 2024, placing the US in 25^th among OECD DAC members. As a result of expected ODA cuts under the Trump administration, the US' ranking in both relative and absolute terms is expected to fall dramatically.

The US aligns with the DAC statistical directives and ODA definition. However, the US' definition of 'foreign assistance' is broader and includes non - ODA eligible items such as military assistance, although there are significant gaps in Department of Defense reporting. The difference between ODA and foreign assistance reporting is highlighted in this table.

July 1, 2025, was a pivotal moment in US ODA history when the US government officially closed USAID, with the State Department now overseeing all foreign assistance distribution.

In July 2025, The US House Appropriations Committee advanced a 2026 spending bill that cuts foreign assistance by 22% compared to 2025 levels. The legislation also included a provision to increase the executive branch's power to cancel funds approved by Congress. In August 2025, a US court ruled that the administration can legally withhold billions of dollars in foreign assistance that Congress had already appropriated. The decision overturns a lower court order and clears the way for significant cuts to global health and other development programs.

The administration announced high-level plans to reduce US foreign assistance by nearly US$60 billion, impacting State Department grants. This reduction would be to programs covering multiple-year awards. Although it is still unclear exactly how much of these cuts would be from ODA-eligible programs, based on the fact that the bulk of the cuts are coming from USAID, the cut means that this would drop the US from the largest ODA donor to around the 12^th-largest once the cuts had fully taken place. Some grants for HIV and tuberculosis medications, and food assistance for countries in civil wars and natural disasters will continue.

This reduction would be to programs covering multiple-year awards. Although it is still unclear exactly how much of these cuts would be from ODA-eligible programs, based on the fact that the bulk of the cuts are coming from USAID, the cut means that this would drop the US from the largest ODA donor to around the 12^th-largest once the cuts had fully taken place. Some grants for HIV and tuberculosis medications, and food assistance for countries in civil wars and natural disasters will continue.

ODA held nearly steady in 2023. US$6.2 billion of funding went to in-donor refugee costs, equivalent to 9.7% of total ODA, a slight decline from the previous year. Bilateral support to Ukraine accounted for an additional 16% of total ODA in 2022. In April 2024, Congress passed a US$95 billion national security emergency funding bill for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Gaza and other partners, of which US$26.8 billion is for economic and humanitarian assistance.

Many of Trump's previous decisions withdrawing support from the multilateral system and weakening development funding, such as budget cuts to USAID, were previously reversed by the Biden administration. The US once again withdrew from the Paris Agreement and WHO upon Trump's inauguration in January 2025, and has since reduced or terminated funding for several other multilateral organizations.

Despite the drastic nature of US ODA cuts, the FY26 International Affairs budget is US$20.4 billion, or 66%, above the Trump Administration's budget request.