Here’s a look at USAID, its history and the changes made since Trump took office. What is USAID? Kennedy created USAID at the height of the United States’ Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union. He wanted a more efficient way to counter Soviet influence abroad through foreign assistance and saw the State Department as frustratingly bureaucratic at doing that.

Dozens of senior officials put on leave. Thousands of contractors laid off. A freeze put on billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance to other countries. Over the last two weeks, President Donald Trump's administration has made significant changes to the U.

The Trump administration extended a lockout of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees for a second day, accelerating efforts to dismantle the agency. The move follows Trumps foreign aid freeze on