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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Pippa Crerar Political editor

Trump’s foreign aid cuts could be ‘big strategic mistake’, says Lammy

David Lammy observes aid deliveries at a refugee camp in Adre, Chad.
David Lammy seen with aid deliveries at a refugee camp in Adre, Chad in January. Aid is an important part of exerting soft power, he says. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s plans to make dramatic cuts to the United States’ international aid budget could be a “big strategic mistake” that allows China to step in and further its global influence, the UK foreign secretary has said.

David Lammy cautioned that Britain’s own experience of merging the Department for International Development (DfID) into the Foreign Office, announced by Boris Johnson in 2020 with little fanfare, was a serious blow to Britain’s “soft power” in developing countries and beyond.

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