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Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
US confirms it will destroy contraceptives previously designated as aid
Washington, DC – The United States has confirmed reports that it will destroy reproductive health supplies previously designated as assistance, sparking fury from advocates and aid groups. The US Department of State said on Friday that the decision stems from US regulations that restrict aid to groups that perform or promote abortions. 'Only a limited number of commodities have been approved for disposal. No HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed,' a State Department spokesperson told Al Jazeera in a statement. Reproductive health advocates decried the US decision on Friday, saying that Washington is incinerating 'life-saving contraceptives' rather than handing them to aid groups to distribute them in poorer countries. Several advocacy groups – including International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Sensoa and Countdown 2030 Europe – released a statement calling the US move a 'cruel and ideologically driven'. 'Despite multiple offers from international humanitarian organisations, governments and global health actors to purchase or redistribute these supplies, the US government has refused all alternatives,' the statement said. 'Instead, they are choosing waste and extremist ideology over care, human rights, safety and health.' The groups said they offered to transport, repack, store and distribute the supplies at 'no cost to the US government', but their proposal was turned down. The Reuters news agency had reported that the supplies, set to be destroyed in France, are worth $10m. The State Department spokesperson said the destruction of the commodities, purchased under the administration of former President Joe Biden, will cost $167,000. The US statement added that the administration of President Donald Trump managed to cancel previously placed orders worth $34.1m. Trump has upended US humanitarian aid programmes, all but dismantling the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and cutting assistance to countries and groups across the world. Since running for office the first time in 2015, Trump has presented himself as a staunch opponent of abortion. During his first term, the Republican president appointed three conservative justices to the US Supreme Court, who helped overturn the constitutional right to abortion in 2022. The decision to destroy reproductive health supplies, instead of donating or even selling them, has drawn the ire of critics across the world. Micah Grzywnowicz, regional director of IPPF European Network, said the move shows 'complete lack of basic empathy'. 'It's the height of hypocrisy for a government to preach efficiency and cutting waste, only to turn around and recklessly destroy life-saving supplies when the need has never been greater. This isn't just inefficient — it's unconscionable,' Grzywnowicz said in a statement.. 'This action seriously undermines global public health efforts and limits access to essential care, particularly for communities already facing significant barriers.' Earlier this week, Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu said she was 'horrified' by the Trump administration's move. 'The Trump admin is burning $10M in taxpayer-funded birth control despite years left before expiration & the UN ready to deliver it to women in need,' Chu said in a social media post. 'This is cruel, disgraceful, and a needless waste of your taxpayer dollars.'
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Photos: US military expands enforcement role at Mexican border under Trump
Published On 25 Jul 2025 25 Jul 2025 United States troop deployments at the border with Mexico have tripled to 7,600 and include every branch of the military – even as the number of attempted illegal crossings plummets. In addition, President Donald Trump has authorised funding for an additional 3,000 Border Patrol agents, offering $10,000 signing and retention bonuses. The military mission at the border is guided from a new command centre at a remote Army intelligence training base located alongside southern Arizona's Huachuca Mountains. There, a community hall has been transformed into a bustling war room, where battalion commanders and staff use digital maps to pinpoint military camps and movements along the nearly 3,200-kilometre (2,000-mile) border. Until now, border enforcement had been the domain of civilian law enforcement, with the military only intermittently stepping in. But in April, large swaths of the border were designated militarised zones, empowering US troops to apprehend immigrants and others accused of trespassing and authorising additional criminal charges that can mean prison time. The two-star general leading the mission says troops are being untethered from maintenance and warehouse tasks to work closely with US Border Patrol agents in high-traffic areas for illegal crossings – and to deploy rapidly to remote, unguarded terrain. 'We don't have a [labour] union. There's no limit on how many hours we can work in a day, how many shifts we can man,' said Army Major-General Scott Naumann. 'I can put soldiers out whenever we need to in order to get after the problem, and we can put them out for days at a time. We can fly people into incredibly remote areas now that we see the cartels shifting [course].' The Trump administration is using the military broadly to boost its immigration operations, from guarding federal buildings in Los Angeles against protests, to assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Florida. There are also plans to hold detained immigrants on military bases in New Jersey, Indiana and Texas. Dan Maurer, a law professor at Ohio Northern University and a retired US Army judge advocate officer, said that Trump is aiming to follow through on his campaign promise to crack down on undocumented border crossings. 'It's all part of the same strategy that is a very muscular, robust, intimidating, aggressive response to this – to show his base that he was serious about a campaign promise to fix immigration,' said Maurer. 'It's both norm-breaking and unusual. It puts the military in a very awkward position.'
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump signals positive meeting with Powell on US interest rates
US President Donald Trump says he had a positive meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and gained the impression that the central bank's head might be ready to lower interest rates. The two men met on Thursday when Trump made a rare visit to the US central bank to tour its ongoing renovation of two buildings at its headquarters in Washington, which the White House has criticised as costing too much. Trump clashed with Powell during his visit and criticised the cost of renovating two historic buildings at its headquarters, and they sparred over the project's actual price tag. 'We had a very good meeting … I think we had a very good meeting on interest rates,' Trump told reporters on Friday. The central bank said on Friday it was 'grateful' for Trump's encouragement to complete the renovation of its buildings in Washington and that it 'looked forward' to seeing the project through to completion. Trump, who called Powell a 'numbskull' earlier this week for failing to heed the White House's demand for a large reduction in borrowing costs, said he did not intend to fire Powell, as he has frequently suggested he would. On Friday, Trump called Powell a 'very good man' when speaking to reporters. Rather than lowering interest rates, economists widely expect the central bank to leave its benchmark interest rate in the 4.25 percent – 4.50 percent range at the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting next week. Tariffs stall rate cuts The central bank has held rates steady since December, and earlier this year, Powell said that if it were not for Trump's imposed tariffs and the economic uncertainty it has caused, the central bank might have been ready to lower rates by now. The visit comes as President Trump is expected to meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, where the two sides could potentially approve an already announced trade deal, as trade negotiations with Canada stall. Trump said his administration could set a tariff rate unilaterally on Canada. 'We haven't really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada could be one where there's just a tariff, not really a negotiation.' Trump also said there is a 50-percent chance of Washington being able to strike a deal with the European Union to reduce import tariffs. 'I would say that we have a 50/50 chance, maybe less than that, but a 50/50 chance of making a deal with the EU,' Trump told reporters at the White House. The president has been pressing his case for reduced interest rates, including falsely claiming, 'We've wiped out inflation.' Inflation actually rose last month to 2.7 percent. Despite continued pressure from the Trump administration, Powell has long maintained that the central bank must preserve its independence from the White House. In late May, the Fed reiterated that point, saying in a statement that it makes 'decisions based solely on careful, objective, and non-political analysis.'
