Poor Nations Paying Millions To Trump-Linked Lobbyists (Worthy News Investigation)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Lobbyists with access to U.S. President Donald J. Trump are charging some of the world’s poorest nations millions of dollars to arrange humanitarian and military aid following the closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Worthy News learned.
A report by Global Witness, a U.S.-based investigative and campaigning organisation, said Pakistan, Somalia, and Haiti are among 17 countries that signed deals with Trump-linked figures.
The Global Witness investigation found that many of these countries are home to one or more armed conflicts and offer access to valuable natural resources, including minerals or other strategic assets, in exchange for humanitarian or military support.
Since the U.S. election in November 2024, catipulted Trump to the White House, some 17 of the world’s Least Developed Countries and largest recipients of U.S. aid – Angola, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq (Kurdistan), Liberia, Moldova, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, Somalia, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen – have signed lobbying contracts with American firms worth over $21 million in fees paid until end-2025.
What’s more, documents filed with the US Department of Justice reveal that firms with ties to Trump and his inner circle are cashing in, investigators said
They have negotiated contracts worth more than $17 million in fees due in 2025 in the six months since Trump was elected, according to records submitted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
MUCH MONEY
Relative to the size of their economies, $17 million paid by these nations would be equivalent to the U.S. paying out nearly half a billion dollars, according to investigators.
After USAID officially closed its doors last week, it was unclear how much aid the lobbyists could negotiate for their clients with the Trump administration.
Trump’s dismantling of the agency could cause more than 14 million avoidable deaths over five years, critical experts say.
In internal documents, senior officials also warned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the cuts would leave 1 million children untreated for malnutrition, up to 160,000 deaths from malaria, and 200,000 more children paralyzed from polio over the next decade.
However, the Trump administration says the U.S. State Department “will assume responsibility for foreign assistance programming previously undertaken by USAID.”
Yet Trump wants aid to be linked to access to natural resources, such as minerals and rare earths, which are considered critical to U.S. security. China controls the supply chains of these minerals.
ICY GREENLAND
Commentators say mineral access has become central to Trump, who earlier threatened to annex mineral-rich Greenland.
He also launched what critics view as a trade war while seeking to boost domestic production, including mining the deep seabed.
While the revolving door between governments and lobbyists is nothing new, experts argue that countries seeking influence over U.S. decisions could significantly affect them.
“We’re seeing a dramatic cut in aid, combined with an explicit rush for critical minerals, and willingness by the Trump administration to secure deals in exchange for aid or military assistance,” said Emily Stewart, Head of Policy, Transition Minerals at Global Witness.
“These dynamics create a potential situation where dealmaking in Washington is more desperate, less favourable to low-income countries, and more open to resource exploitation at the expense of impacted communities.”
The DRC is primed to sign a mineral deal with the US for support against Rwanda-backed rebels, providing American companies access to lithium, cobalt, and coltan.
TOP RECIPIENT
The DRC—a former top-10 USAID recipient—signed contracts worth $1.2 million with lobbyist Ballard Partners.
The firm, owned by Brian Ballard, lobbied for Trump well before the 2016 US election and was a leading donor to the US president’s political campaign.
Somalia and Yemen signed contracts with BGR Government Affairs for $550,000 and $372,000, respectively.
Sean Duffy, a former BGR partner, is now Trump’s transportation secretary, one of the myriad links between the US president and the lobbying firm.
The government of Pakistan, a country that struggles with extreme poverty but is extremely rich in minerals, has signed two contracts with Trump-linked lobbyists worth $450,000 a month.
Pakistan now deals with multiple individuals in Trump’s inner circle, including the president’s former bodyguard, Keith Schiller.
U.S. officials have denied making unfair deals but added that they want to spend U.S. taxpayer dollars more efficiently.
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