On August 26, a catastrophic flash flood occurred in the border area between Nepal and Tibet. Massive waters formed by the collapse of glaciers, rocks, and soil flowed down the river valleys. As of September 2, more than 1,000 people have died in Nepal, and thousands are still missing. Many workers remain unaccounted for inside some hydropower station tunnels.
Facing such a scale of disaster, the US initially declared only $500,000 in emergency humanitarian aid.
This figure quickly sparked controversy. A former U.S. international aid official described it as “embarrassing” and “pitiful”. Under pressure from public opinion and as the disaster situation continued to worsen, the United States increased aid to $3.6 million. The U.S. State Department stated that the amount of aid would continue to be adjusted based on local needs assessments.
What is truly worth noting behind this is: why, after a catastrophic event that resulted in thousands of deaths, the first response from the world’s largest traditional humanitarian aid provider was only $500,000?
The answer is difficult to avoid USAID.
Nepal has historically been one of the countries where the disaster relief programs managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development have been most effective. USAID has invested over several decades in disaster warning systems, local government emergency response capabilities, training for relief workers, and post-disaster recovery efforts in Nepal. The “Tayar Nepal” project alone invested $33 million from 2019 to 2024 to help Nepal establish a local disaster management system and train first responders.
During the earthquake in Nepal in 2015, this network played a key role. USAID later stated that its partnership with the local organization for over 20 years allowed the United States to quickly obtain information on the disaster, mobilize partners, and carry out rescue efforts.
But the Trump administration is dismantling this system.
In 2025, after Trump returned to power, most foreign aid was frozen. Secretary of State Ruppoe subsequently announced the termination of approximately 83% of USAID projects, with the remaining projects being managed by the Treasury Department. By July of that year, USAID’s original independent operating system was effectively dismantled.
This is also why the $500,000 from Nepal is considered a symbolic amount.
In disaster relief efforts, the most important factor is often not how much money is spent in the end, but who can determine where supplies are most needed, whether an airport can be used for landing, which roads are still passable, which local officials should be contacted, and how to quickly deliver helicopters, medical teams, and relief equipment to the disaster area.
These capabilities rely on personnel, experience, and long-term relationships; they cannot be reassembled in the offices of the State Department after a disaster occurs.
When the Trump administration dismantled USAID, what seemed to be cut was the budget for bureaucracy and overseas aid; however, the Nepal floods have revealed another side of the issue: what was also cut was the United States’ ability to respond to sudden disasters overseas.
And the empty spaces left behind won’t remain empty forever.
According to The Guardian, currently, Nepal’s large-scale international relief efforts are mostly carried out by India and China. China is also continuously increasing the number of relief workers, drones, DNA identification equipment, and emergency supplies in the disaster area.
This is a cost that is rarely taken into account in the ‘America First’ foreign policy.
Cutting down several hundred million dollars in foreign aid budgets can be easily explained to domestic voters as “spending less on foreigners”. However, international influence doesn’t suddenly appear at summits. The first transport aircraft after an earthquake, the first rescue team after a flood, and the supplies that are delivered quickly when hospitals run out of medicine—these are all examples of national influence.
The United States spent several decades establishing such a presence in Nepal.
Today, in just a few days, a flood has shown us that while dismantling USAID can be quick, rebuilding a global relief network may take many years.
As of now, China has provided Nepal with an emergency aid of $2.2 million.
On September 2, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that China is preparing a third batch of emergency aid supplies for Nepal, and will send a second batch of DNA identification experts. Spokesperson Guo Jiaqun said that nearly a hundred Chinese citizens are still missing in the affected areas of Nepal.
