Trump cut lifesaving foreign aid as State Department planned to buy expensive art for embassies
The intended purchases, which total nearly $2 million, were described by a U.S. government official with information about the State Department’s spending plans.
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In its earliest days, the second Trump administration cut off lifesaving food and medical aid to countries worldwide. It halted efforts to stop teens from joining drug cartels in Mexico. And it shut down programs aimed at resettling Afghans who assisted U.S. troops during the fight against the Taliban.
But at least initially, the budget for expensive artwork to hang in U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide remained robust.
The State Department planned, for instance, to purchase a $650,000 “triple-height suspended sculpture” for its embassy in Brasília. It had designs on a $55,000 “wall installation” in Malawi. A “textile work” that costs $105,000 and a $94,000 “suspended sculpture that would span two levels” were on the books for Mauritius. And $550,000 was set aside for “three ceiling suspended sculptures” that would hang in the “main atrium space” of the American embassy in Riyadh.
The intended purchases, which total nearly $2 million, were described to me by a U.S. government official with information about the State Department’s spending plans.
