USAID pays Samaritan’s Purse $19M reimbursement for Africa aid
The Evangelical humanitarian aid charity Samaritan's Purse has received a $19 million reimbursement from the United States Agency for International Development after aid funding was halted in the early days of President Donald Trump's second administration.
The North Carolina-based Samaritan's Purse confirmed in a statement to Ministry Watch that it received the funding shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration must unfreeze $2 billion in foreign aid payments for completed work.
Samaritan's Purse began working with USAID in 1994 to respond to the genocide in Rwanda, with the most recent funds reimbursing the group for providing food and medical care to people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and South Sudan. The reimbursement payments for aid and services already provided in those countries had been on hold since January.
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In an emailed statement to The Christian Post, Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham expressed the organization's willingness to continue working with USAID if possible.
"If the U.S. State Department continues to provide funds for emergency food and medicine, we will continue to consider working with them on a case-by-case basis, as we have done for more than 30 years," stated Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham
"Of course, none of this changes any of the work that Samaritan's Purse is already doing throughout Africa and the rest of the world. The funding agreements with USAID are in addition to our ministry work."
Since taking office, Trump has sought to drastically cut funding and personnel from USAID. In January, he ordered a pause on all foreign aid funding. The White House alleges that the agency has engaged in extensive wasteful spending that has supported controversial initiatives that many conservatives oppose.
Examples cited by the White House included $1.5 million spent on "advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities," $2 million spent on sex change operations and "LGBT activism" in Guatemala and the delivery of hundreds of thousands of free meals to al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists in Syria.
Critics, including some Christian nonprofits, have argued that the cuts — which reportedly amounted to 92% of USAID and State Department foreign assistance-related grants and contracts — have eliminated life-saving programs for vulnerable communities abroad, with many already suffering the consequences.
In a 5-4 unsigned opinion released March 5, the Supreme Court denied the Trump administration's request to freeze $2 billion in USAID reimbursement funds, upholding a lower court order.
When asked his opinion of the USAID cuts, Graham, who has long supported many of Trump's policies and offered prayers at both of Trump's inauguration ceremonies, responded that "Samaritan's Purse does not rely on government funding."
He said less than 5% of the organization's funding in 2024 came from government grants.
"I think it's a good thing for the government to assess and reexamine the various programs that the U.S. is funding around the world. We trust that the new leadership will analyze all of the information and make good decisions," Graham continued.
"I encourage the State Department to continue providing life-saving aid such as food and medicine. Whatever the outcome, this will not change the fact that Samaritan's Purse will continue to help people in need."
