White House installs Trump loyalist to lead independent agency in push to reduce foreign aid
Source: The Guardian
White House installs Trump loyalist to lead independent agency in push to reduce foreign aid
Peter Marocco assigned as head of Inter-American Foundation after White House fires president and CEO
Lauren Gambino and Michael Sainato
Tue 4 Mar 2025 23.52 GMT
First published on Tue 4 Mar 2025 23.14 GMT
The White House has installed Peter Marocco as head of a small independent international development agency, part of a broader push by Donald Trump and Elon Musk to dramatically reduce US foreign aid.
Marocco, a Trump loyalist who presided over the administration’s evisceration of foreign aid programs at USAid and the state department, was placed in charge of the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) on Friday, after the White House fired the foundation’s president and CEO, Sara Aviel, according to a letter sent by the chair of the agency’s board of directors and reviewed by the Guardian.
The White House also moved to terminate the agency’s bipartisan board of directors and appoint Marocco as the sole board member and chairman, said an employee at the Inter-American Foundation, who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
By Monday evening, most of the agency’s 37 staffers had been placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately, the employee said. Two former employees confirmed the moves.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/04/trump-loyalist-installed-head-of-iaf-agency
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