ProPublica ties the Trump administration’s rapid dismantling of USAID to service interruptions during South Sudan’s worst cholera outbreak on record. It describes internal decision-making, delayed or blocked funding flows, and public claims that lifesaving programs were still ❝active.❞ On the ground, aid groups and families describe clinics closing mid-outbreak and deaths that may have been avoidable.
❝Trump officials were told that cutting aid to South Sudan would exacerbate a deadly cholera epidemic. They did so anyway.❞
ProPublica, reporting highlights (15-Dec-2025)
❝In some cases, they abandoned vital operations by clicking through a spreadsheet or ignoring requests in their inboxes.❞
ProPublica, describing decision-making during the foreign-aid freeze (15-Dec-2025)
❝You don’t want to get to know the lobsters. Just throw them in the pot.❞
Jeremy Lewin, quoted in ProPublica from meeting notes (15-Dec-2025)
❝We had to start rationing lifesaving interventions.❞
Lanre Williams-Ayedun (World Relief), quoted by ProPublica (15-Dec-2025)
❝If there was medicine here, maybe her life would have been saved.❞
Tor Top, quoted by ProPublica (15-Dec-2025)
❝Lives depend on these awards and for the [U.S. government] to simply not manage them because of an arbitrary deadline is inexcusable.❞
R. Clark Pearson (USAID contracting officer), quoted by ProPublica from an email (15-Dec-2025)
ProPublica reports Trump appointees slashed 🚫🩺💸 USAID support despite warnings about South Sudan’s cholera crisis; clinics closed, payments stalled, and families describe preventable deaths. 🤦♂️🆘 #CutsKill #HumanitarianCrisis