The Trump administration shut down the US Agency for International Development in February 2025, with President Trump declaring the agency plagued by corruption and ordering it closed within hours of posting the accusation on Truth Social.

The move was presented as part of an "America first" push to stop wasting taxpayer money overseas, following unsubstantiated claims from conservative media that the agency had funneled millions toward frivolous projects abroad.

More than a year later, however, US government money is still leaving the country, according to reporting by The Guardian. Rather than funding humanitarian relief, the funds are now being steered toward right-wing organizations across Europe, many with financial or ideological ties to Trump-aligned networks.

Grants flow to UK conservative groups

The Guardian reported last month that the US State Department plans to award around $12 million to conservative organizations in Britain. The largest single grant, worth $7 million, is earmarked for 878, a newly registered group co-founded by former Conservative minister and broadcaster Jacob Rees-Mogg. The organization describes itself as a British-American think tank focused on strengthening the "civilizational partnership" between the two countries.

A former US official told The Guardian that standard funding procedures appear to have been bypassed to channel money toward causes aligned with Trump's political movement.

Separately, Washington has opened grant proposals for European groups working to build  "civilizational self-confidence," addressing sovereignty, migration, censorship, and what the funding language calls shared Western values.

Researcher Zsuzsanna Végh told the i Paper that the vague wording reflects years of coordination between MAGA-aligned figures and sympathetic European actors, who had already been identified as likely grant recipients.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz responded by cautioning the Trump administration against interfering in Germany's elections. In Britain, the US embassy in London is also offering grants of up to $500,000 for "public education" initiatives promoting a shared narrative of transatlantic values, a program one former State Department official described to The Guardian as an effort to manufacture UK-based narratives supporting MAGA messaging.

Source:Websites