Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump administration to give faith-based groups $2B in funding for global health work The Trump administration announced $2 billion in funding to faith-based groups for global health work. The White House says these groups work more efficiently. Experts question that claim. National Trump administration to give faith-based groups $2B in funding for global health work August 12, 20264:46 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Fatma Tanis Trump administration to give faith-based groups $2B in funding for global health work Listen · 2:29 2:29 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5928218/nx-s1-9884212" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript The Trump administration announced $2 billion in funding to faith-based groups for global health work. The White House says these groups work more efficiently. Experts question that claim. Sponsor Message Transcript
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The Trump administration says it's giving $2 billion to faith-based groups for health and humanitarian work around the world. It's part of a new foreign assistance strategy. Last year, the administration dismantled the 60-year-old U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID. NPR's Fatma Tanis reports.
FATMA TANIS, BYLINE: Most of the money is going to large Christian organizations, including World Vision, Samaritan's Purse and Compassion International. The State Department said last week that the funds would support 2,500 faith-based hospitals and clinics in 17 countries as well as emergency assistance for humanitarian crises and disaster response. Dean Karlan is the former chief economist of USAID. Bottom line, he says, this announcement is a good thing.
DEAN KARLAN: I prefer to see this money get spent than not spent, and I do think World Vision will create some good.
TANIS: The administration calls it the largest allocation of foreign assistance to faith-based groups in 20 years. As part of its new America First global health strategy, it has favored American businesses and faith-based groups for global health funding over most other nongovernmental organizations.
In a statement to NPR, the State Department said, quote, "these awards reflect the administration's shift toward more efficient, results-driven foreign assistance," and that the award process did not prioritize religious affiliation. But Karlan says faith-based groups are not inherently more efficient than other groups who have lost billions of dollars in funding in the last year.
KARLAN: Is it the best we could've done? I doubt it because there's no sign that they used evidence in any way to guide this decision.
TANIS: Jeremy Konyndyk was a top humanitarian official at USAID under Presidents Obama and Biden. He also welcomes the global health spending, but has some reservations.
JEREMY KONYNDYK: Is the U.S. government putting a lot of eggs in these baskets? And I think there are real drawbacks to that approach to disaster response.
TANIS: Konyndyk says the old system of foreign aid seemed more efficient and agile.
KONYNDYK: When a new disaster struck, we looked at who was on the ground. We looked at who was most capable. And we worked with them rather than having a sort of preset roster that may or may not be in place and relevant to the crisis.
TANIS: For example, Konyndyk says, in the recent relief for the earthquakes in Venezuela, the U.S. had funded Samaritan's Purse over other aid groups that already had a presence in the country, which he says slowed down the response.
Fatma Tanis, NPR News. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{310:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(80)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(769),o(155),o(176),o(93),o(447),o(254),o(128),o(130),o(754),o(175),o(755),o(255),o(78),o(773)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},782:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(310)}},[[782,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();