On the chopping block

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed yet another executive order, this time dismantling the Inter-American Foundation, the U.S. African Development Foundation, and the U.S. Institute of Peace, calling them “unnecessary.”

Created by the U.S. Congress around 50 years ago, these agencies operate on modest budgets of $40million to $55 million annually, funding development projects in Latin America and Africa, as well as global conflict resolution. Despite their small size, they've faced scrutiny — critics accuse the U.S. Institute of Peace of having an overwhelmingly Democratic-leaning staff, while the African Development Foundation was flagged for financial mismanagement, though audits later found no violations.

Trump’s order gives agency heads 14 days to comply with the directive and to justify their existence or begin scaling down to the bare legal minimum. It also takes aim at various advisory groups, including USAID’s long-standing committee on voluntary foreign aid, established after World War II. Even San Francisco’s Presidio Trust, which manages a historic park, is in the crosshairs, writes my colleague Elissa Miolene.

Read: Trump to scrap US African Development Foundation, US Institute of Peace