The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, acting contrary to the demands of leading Democrats on the House and Senate foreign affairs committees, has stripped tens of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid from European countries included in a supplemental bill supporting Ukraine and its closest European neighbors, as well as Middle Eastern countries, and will instead provide these funds to conservative governments in Latin America. Three U.S. officials told The Washington Post, UNN reports.
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The U.S. State Department informed Congress of its intentions in September, prompting Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks to suspend the diversion of the funds.
Late on Wednesday, September 30, the administration informed Congress without public disclosure that it was disregarding the suspension and proceeding with the diversion of $52 million to Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia—funds that had been approved for Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia, and Iraq, officials said.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, Shaheen and Meeks called the move a violation of the freeze they had imposed and of statutory requirements governing where the funds could go. The diversion of funding for Slovakia and North Macedonia has drawn particularly strong opposition because the funds were included in a supplemental bill concerning Ukraine, specifically intended for countries affected by the war in Ukraine, the publication reports.
"Both chambers of Congress provided these funds for a very specific purpose: supporting Ukraine and our European allies following Russia's full-scale invasion," they wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Post. "The executive branch does not have unlimited authority to redirect these funds to unrelated policy priorities of the administration or countries," the letter states.
In response to questions about the lawmakers' objections, the State Department told The Post that the money would be better used in Latin America in line with Trump's foreign policy doctrine, which calls for a reorientation toward the Western Hemisphere.
"Reprogramming funds from the Middle East and Europe to the Western Hemisphere is consistent with the National Security Strategy," the State Department said in a statement. "Funds used in our region will be directed toward combating narco-terrorism in our hemisphere and will help continue to ensure the security of the Panama Canal," the statement said.
"Funds used in the Western Hemisphere will strengthen the U.S. security partnership and counter adversary military influence in our shared region," the department added.
The State Department did not respond to questions regarding Shaheen and Meeks's assertion that the administration's diversion of funds approved by Congress violates statutory requirements.
Congress approved these funds in 2022 at the beginning of the war in Ukraine. At the time, Washington also relied on non-European countries to end their arms-sale relations with Russia, seeking to isolate the Kremlin.
In addition to assisting Ukraine and its closest European neighbors, the bill was intended to help foreign countries begin purchasing U.S. military equipment instead of Russian equipment, particularly countries that had supplied Ukraine with their older weapons.
Last month, Democratic representatives met with State Department officials to ask how providing funding to Latin American countries could be interpreted as a response to the "situation in Ukraine" or as directing funds to countries "affected by the situation in Ukraine," as stated in the original bill.
The Trump administration "failed" to explain this during briefings for lawmakers or in subsequent written responses to their requests for clarification, Meeks and Shaheen said in their letter to Rubio.
Administration officials "also confirmed that Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru have not provided significant security assistance to Ukraine or to other European allies and partners affected by Russia’s war in Ukraine," they wrote.
Jeremy Shapiro, director of research at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said European countries would view this as a "harbinger" of how the Trump administration will prioritize global affairs.
"This will reinforce the feeling that Europeans could be abandoned if they do not pass a loyalty test or do what the administration wants regarding Iran," he said.