Rubio announced exceptions to the suspension of U.S. foreign aid

The United States has introduced new large-scale exceptions to the suspension of foreign aid. This was announced on February 4 by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"We have frozen foreign aid so that we can do a review of these programs. The exclusion process is in place so that we can do a review of those programs. We made exceptions here today for programs that are fully justified. <...> These full and comprehensive waivers have been in place for about a week now," he said at a joint press conference with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chavez.

Rubio also noted that much of the support programs have been renewed. According to him, the United States does not plan to completely limit foreign aid. However, the new administration intends to make it "meaningful" and consistent with the country's national interests.

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On January 21, US President Donald Trump suspended US development aid to other countries for 90 days by executive order. The rationale is that the "foreign aid industry" is not in Washington's interests, often contradicts U.S. values, and supports destabilization in the world.

Later, on January 25, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) froze programs to support foreign countries, including Ukraine. As the Associated Press agency later noted, Ukrainian officials funded by the US State Department may lose money as part of the freeze.