
For years, many career officials in foreign affairs, including this author, observed firsthand as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) fought bureaucratic battles within the government to protect its turf, budgets, and pet projects—often with little or no interest in advancing U.S. objectives in target countries. By shuttering USAID, President Donald Trump is not only saving taxpayers billions of dollars but also disbanding a uniquely self-interested bureaucracy with an ideological agenda. The USAID motto “from the American people” stopped ringing true many decades ago. President John F. Kennedy...