Aid pro quo: Trump weaponises foreign help

美国外援武器化

The Intelligence from The Economist

2025-10-15

23 分钟
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After cancelling much of America's international development funding, President Donald Trump is now using that money to boost friends, allies against China and buy goods and influence. Ukraine is striking Russia's fuel infrastructure deep inside the country. And why JD Wetherspoon is not just a British bargain boozer. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. 
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  • The Economist.

  • Hello and welcome to The Intelligence from The Economist.

  • I'm Rosie Blau.

  • And I'm Jason Palmer.

  • Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

  • In recent months, Ukraine has inflicted massive damage on Russia's oil refineries and its fuel distribution system.

  • In parts of the country, there are now long queues for petrol.

  • We explore the impact.

  • And at a time when many British pubs are closing, the Wetherspoons chain is going gangbusters.

  • Its outlets tend to be surprisingly bright and surprisingly cheap.

  • Good thing as our correspondent felt duty bound to drink a pint in one to report this piece.

  • But first...

  • America's policy on international aid used to be about alleviating poverty and making allies by doing so.

  • Cash was doled out via charities and agencies, as well as the IMF and World Bank, backed in large part by American contributions.

  • In Donald Trump's second term, that changed, swiftly, inefficiently, in many cases, cruelly.

  • But all that funding, that interest in the international community, it didn't go away.

  • Our international economics correspondent, Cerian Richmond-Jones, says it's just being repurposed.

  • Donald Trump has totally destroyed international aid over the course of the past nine months.

  • He's destroyed the world's biggest aid agency to lots and lots of controversy.

  • That's left children in Africa without bed nets, it's affected democracy charities in Poland.