Foreign Autocrats Are Exploiting Trump’s Chaos

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Report Foreign Autocrats Are Exploiting Trump’s Chaos Spending cuts in Washington are creating openings for repressive regimes. By Christina Lu , an energy and environment reporter at Foreign Policy , and Lili Pike , a reporter at Foreign Policy . About 20 people of a crowd are seen holding signs under a gray sky and the large white dome of the U.S. Capitol building in the background. Many of the signs; a boy about 12 at the front of the crowd holds a hand-lettered sign that says “Both my parents lost their jobs due to President Musk. How does this make America great again?” People protest against U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s plan to shut down USAID, seen outside the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 5. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images My FP: Follow topics and authors to get straight to what you like. Exclusively for FP subscribers. Subscribe Now | Log In United States Christina Lu Lili Pike February 12, 2025, 4:39 PM Comment icon View Comments ( 2 ) The Trump administration’s chaotic effort to overhaul the U.S. federal government and exert control has delighted and even emboldened autocrats around the world who see the turmoil in Washington as an opportunity to advance their own crackdowns. Trump’s Second Term Ongoing reports and analysis Slashing the federal workforce. Dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Freezing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Purging independent government watchdogs. Targeting funding at the National Institutes of Health. Cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Restricting scientists at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Making sweeping budget cuts at the Department of Education. Sidelining some independent media. The Trump administration’s chaotic effort to overhaul the U.S. federal government and exert control has delighted and even emboldened autocrats around the world who see the turmoil in Washington as an opportunity to advance their own crackdowns. Trending Articles The Coming Golden Age of Crime Artificial intelligence and other technologies are turbocharging cartels, mafias, and other illicit networks. Powered By Advertisement The Coming Golden Age of Crime X Trump’s Second Term Ongoing reports and analysis Slashing the federal workforce. Dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Freezing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . Purging independent government watchdogs . Targeting funding at the National Institutes of Health . Cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Restricting scientists at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Making sweeping budget cuts at the Department of Education. Sidelining some independent media. In the past month, U.S. President Donald Trump and top advisor Elon Musk’s far-reaching joint effort to dramatically remake the federal government has sown chaos in Washington and sparked a slew of lawsuits against the administration. But abroad, the moves are being closely followed by foreign strongmen, many of whom are eager to harness the chaos to their own advantage. Take, for example, Trump’s foreign aid freeze and effective shutdown of USAID , which has served for decades as the United States’ top humanitarian and development agency. Through foreign aid, Washington has long supported civil society groups around the world—including ones operating in repressive environments such as Russia , Hungary , and China —and experts warn that tearing down that architecture is a boon to those regimes and their own clampdowns. The Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID “has been music to the ears of autocratic leaders in many places,” said Thomas Carothers, a democracy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “They’re celebrating this demise of funding to these groups and the chance to attack them.” One of the biggest cheerleaders of the effort has been Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a longtime Trump ally who has for years waged his own campaign against nongovernmental organizations and independent media, particularly targeting those that receive U.S. funding. On social media and on state radio last week, the Hungarian strongman celebrated Trump’s gutting of USAID and claimed that the agency had backed organizations that wanted to “ topple ” his government. “I think the world owes a debt of gratitude to [Trump] for uncovering and putting an end to this dark conspiracy,” Orban said in a post on X . As the Trump administration effectively shuttered the agency, which Musk has baselessly labeled a “ criminal organization ,” Orban appeared to use the turmoil last week to justify his own crackdown. Hungary will now take legal action against NGOs and independent media organizations that receive aid from Washington, he announced last Friday, describing the employees of USAID-funded groups as “agents.” “Now is the moment when these international networks have to be taken down, they have to be swept away,” he declared on state radio. “It is necessary to make their existence legally impossible.” Trump’s and Musk’s effort to dismantle USAID was also welcomed by Iranian state media and Russian officials , with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev dubbing it a “ smart move .” Russia expelled USAID from the country in 2012 after accusing it of attempting “to influence political processes through its grants.” But Michael McFaul, who was the U.S. ambassador to Russia between 2012 and 2014, posted on X that Russian President Vladimir Putin kicked out USAID “because their work supported free markets, democracy, human rights.” Those are “causes that threatened [Putin’s] dictatorship,” he said. Read More Volunteers at a camp for internally displaced people unload sacks of wheat flour that were part of an aid delivery from USAID in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The Chaos at USAID, Explained Experts warn that dissolving the agency would be a gift to U.S. adversaries. Explainer | John Haltiwanger , Christina Lu A security guard stands at the entrance to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) headquarters on Feb. 3. DOGE Is Hacking America The U.S. government has experienced what may be the most consequential security breach in its history. Argument | Bruce Schneier , Davi Ottenheimer “Shutting down USAID is exactly what autocrats all over the world want,” he added . It’s not just USAID’s dissolution that is a cause for celebration for Russia; Putin is “hoping that both disruption in the U.S. will consume the U.S. and it will undercut U.S. support for Ukraine and U.S. support for democratic forces in Moldova, Georgia and elsewhere,” Carothers said. Sign up for Editors’ Picks A curated selection of FP’s must-read stories. Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time. Enter your email Sign Up ✓ Signed Up You’re on the list! More ways to stay updated on global news: FP Live Enter your email Sign Up ✓ Signed Up World Brief Enter your email Sign Up ✓ Signed Up China Brief Enter your email Sign Up ✓ Signed Up South Asia Brief Enter your email Sign Up ✓ Signed Up Situation Report Enter your email Sign Up ✓ Signed Up View All Newsletters Unlike Budapest and Moscow, the Chinese government has been largely quiet when it comes to the U.S. federal shake-up. Officials in Beijing have been focused on thwarting a trade war that will have “no winners,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday . “I think the Chinese are watching it almost in disbelief,” said Yun Sun, the director of the China program at the Stimson Center, who added that she had seen policy analysts in China liken the chaos to the Cultural Revolution. “Given how the government agencies are being just written off and completely gutted within days, I think that reminds Chinese of [the] Cultural Revolution as the most comparable analogy in their recent memories,” she said. The funding freeze has given China a chance to spread its influence and portray itself as the more reliable superpower. In one example, the Chinese government announced it would give $4.4 million to fund an effort previously supported by USAID to clear mines from the countryside in Cambodia—a legacy of the Vietnam War. However, experts doubt that China has the will or capacity to fully replace the U.S. presence worldwide. Another front in Trump’s campaign to downsize the government is also delivering a win to Beijing, according to the human rights community. Cuts in funding to the State Department’s Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Bureau , which has long supported China-related human rights work, have dealt a significant blow to nonprofits in the space. “It’ll be a sweet victory for [Chinese President] Xi Jinping, who has tried to crush these groups,” Maya Wang, the associate China director at Human Rights Watch, wrote on X . The Trump administration’s sweeping effort to target DEI programs across the federal government may also draw cheers from leaders who have made similar pushes in their own countries, experts said. “The attacks on DEI resonate strongly in places where illiberal leaders have already advanced these kinds of ideas, whether it’s Russia or Hungary,” said Carothers, citing efforts to roll back LGBTQ rights or progress on gender equality. “They see it as part of their struggle, and they feel the United States is joining them in their struggle to move their countries in this direction,” he added. This post is part of FP’s ongoing coverage of the Trump administration . Follow along here . This post is part of FP’s ongoing coverage of the Trump transition . Follow along here . My FP: Follow topics and authors to get straight to what you like. Exclusively for FP subscribers. Subscribe Now | Log In United States Christina Lu Lili Pike Christina Lu is an energy and environment reporter at Foreign Policy . X: @christinafei Lili Pike is a reporter at Foreign Policy . X: @lili_pike Read More On Foreign Aid | Government Bureaucracy | United States Join the Conversation Commenting on this and other recent articles is just one benefit of a Foreign Policy subscription. Already a subscriber? Log In . Subscribe Subscribe View 2 Comments Join the Conversation Join the conversation on this and other recent Foreign Policy articles when you subscribe now. Subscribe Subscribe Not your account? Log out View 2 Comments Join the Conversation Please follow our comment guidelines , stay on topic, and be civil, courteous, and respectful of others’ beliefs. You are commenting as . Change your username | Log out Change your username: Username I agree to abide by FP’s comment guidelines . (Required) Confirm CANCEL Confirm your username to get started. 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