INTERNACIONAL
Secret Signal chats reveal how anti-ICE agitators coordinated Newark riots

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
At 11:30 a.m. on June 3, an activation signal went out on social media calling protesters and agitators to swarm Delaney Hall, the Newark, N.J. ICE detention facility that has become one of the nation’s most contentious immigration battlegrounds.
«CURFEW IS OVER. BACK TO DELANEY,» read an Instagram post, promoted by a fiery collection of anti-Israel, Marxist and Democratic organizations — from «Palestine Solidarity Working Group» and Al-Awda to Indivisible and 50501 — that have joined tumultuous against the ICE, Newark police and New Jersey state troopers over the past couple of weeks.
Within minutes, the call to action spread through secret groups on Signal, an encrypted messaging platform, activating hundreds of anti-ICE activists with secret monikers like «framed.unrest» and «Wicked Something,» collaborating on transportation, logistics and supplies, like goggles, protections against pepper spray, respirators and protective knee pads.
A Fox News Digital investigation, gathering information on the ground in Newark, in secret chat groups on Signal and from scores of tax filings, strategy documents and social media posts, reveals the protests outside Delaney Hall are no organic outpouring of spontaneous rage. They are the result of years of strategic planning by a network of well-funded, well-organized groups that have once again exploited a local controversy to wage a wider attack on federal immigration policies and the U.S. in general.
The activities of this network have motivated a group of tech sleuths on the X — @DataRepublican, @Astrarce, @bitchuneedsoap and @gunshymartyr — to penetrate these groups, their Signal chats and their operations like a digital Avengers squad.
BLUE STATE ICE FACILITY RAMPS UP SECURITY WITH NEW BARRICADES AMID CLASHES WITH PROTESTERS
State police officers arrest a person outside Delaney Hall detention center during a protest against detainee transfers and federal immigration policies in Newark, N.J., on May 29, 2026. (Andres Kudacki/AP)
According to Fox News Digital’s analysis, the network behind the Delaney Hall protests includes about 100 groups, some of them big names like the ACLU, Indivisible and Democratic Socialists of America. Together, these organizations report collective annual revenues of about $850 million, approximately equal to the annual budget of Newark. The groups didn’t respond to requests for comment.
About 70 of the groups have received special designations as charities by the IRS, have status as regular 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofits, as well as labor union 501(c)(5) and 501(c)(6) nonprofits, enjoying tax-deductible donations and certain tax-free benefits. In recent months, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee have launched investigations into the alleged abuse of nonprofit laws to instigate conflict, sow discord and even inspire political violence.
The Delaneny network — which one expert calls the «Delaney Hall 100» — message around shared language assembled in a strategic communications document, called the «Delaney Hall Creator Brief,» which Fox News Digital obtained from X user @b—-uneedsoap. The strategy document directs content creators to call the detention center a «concentration camp» and label detainees «imprisoned prisoners» and «captives.» It tells activists to eschew saying detainees were arrested, but rather assert they were «kidnapped/abducted/taken.»

Protestors gathered outside Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office at the State House in Trenton, N.J., on June 1, 2026, demanding she take action and speak to the group about the Delaney Hall ICE facility. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
Their tactics mirror the system deployed in Minneapolis earlier this year to protest ICE actions, and military experts say the operations resemble the tactics of an insurgency.
«We should be very concerned about the Delaney Hall 100,» said Chuck Flint, a nonprofit expert and former U.S. Senate chief of staff. «Protests like the kind we’re seeing outside Delaney Hall are not organic protests. These are manufactured strategic, calculated endeavors by an army of nonprofits meant to push subversive activity. These groups generate annual revenues greater than many of the cities in which they protest. They act like military battalions with the ability to overwhelm a city’s public safety resources.»
«It’s David vs. Goliath,» said Flint, who is also a former state prosecutor.
FOX NEWS DIGITAL ANALYSIS: HOW MINNEAPOLIS AGITATOR NETWORKS USE INSURGENCY TACTICS TO HINDER ICE

Hasan Piker speaks with an interviewer during a protest in New Jersey. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)
Last weekend, Fox News Digital spotlighted a series of far-left groups that self-identify as socialist, Marxist and communist blending in with immigrant groups. They included Democratic Socialists of America, the U.S. Revolutionary Communist Party, Speak Out Socialist, Refuse Fascism, Freedom Road Socialists Organization, Freedom Socialist Party and the Black Panthers.
Fox News Digital observed tents stocked with respirators, goggles, protective pads, decontamination supplies and other protest-support equipment.
Late last Saturday, controversial Marxist influencer Hasan Piker arrived at the protests for a quick walk-through, wearing a pink gas mask. He told Fox News Digital that he was there to advocate for the demands of the detainees inside, remaining on the scene for less than 30 minutes before driving off.
Later, he responded to Fox News Digital’s images of the tents filled with riot-gear provisions and called the supplies «mutual aid.»
The preparations for protests Wednesday night offer a window into how the organizations motivate, coordinate, mobilize, focus and discipline their foot soldiers.
By 1:17 p.m., a user, «Pete InDC,» shared a video outside the detention facility, with a car honking nonstop and «ICE OUT» drawn in chalk on Doremus Avenue.
«Come on down!» wrote «Pete InDC.»
AGITATORS OUTSIDE DELANEY HALL SET UP ORGANIZED LOGISTICS OPERATION BEFORE NEWARK PROTESTS BEGAN
At 1:29 p.m., «yarrow» asked, «any car pools from nyc today? or any medics coming from nyc?»
By 1:46 p.m., others asked if one of the main protest organizers, Cosesha, approved the protest, and yet others started organizing logistics, starting with the ordinary: food, drinks, bike racks, transportation, parking and tents, as if they were headed to a concert.
«Tamale» asked «so if we do go should we be bringing supplies or only rallying? do ppl need water.»
By 2:11 p.m., when «Durga» asked for others to «like» the message if they were on Doremus Avenue, another user — «tiny» — admonished «Durga,» warning «please don’t self id in the chat,» adding «or ask others to.»
Often these organizations speak their own language, for example, compiling «otg» — or «on the ground» — intelligence.
At 3:08 p.m., «Jay D» asked, «Is anyone otg and can give a report?»
FEDERAL AGENTS IN NEW JERSEY BEAT BACK ANTI-ICE AGITATORS IN CHAOS OUTSIDE DELANEY HALL DETENTION FACILITY

Protestors, politicians and ICE agents gather outside Delaney Hall, an immigration facility in Newark, N.J., on May 27, 2026. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
Quickly, the communications moved into a very serious preparation for a showdown with law enforcement authorities.
By 4:07 p.m., «Mason D» offered to bring «sudecon wipes for help with pepper spray/tear gas attacks, multiple sets of protective pads for elbows/knees, electrolytes» and «non-ventilated goggles.» Sudecon wipes are specialized decontamination towelettes designed to neutralize and remove chemical defense sprays like pepper spray and tear gas.
Behind the scenes, months, or even years, of coordination precede these events. This past weekend’s violent mobilization came after about a year of quieter activism by local groups.
In late May, hundreds of detainees launched a hunger and labor strike, igniting a wider network of advocacy organizations, legal groups, faith leaders, community organizers, elected officials and national nonprofits that quickly mobilized around the facility.
Within days, congressional delegations were demanding access, rapid-response networks were coordinating demonstrations across New Jersey, and the issue had become a national political story.
Fox News Digital found that many of the organizations active today had spent years building coalitions, communications networks, funding relationships and rapid-response infrastructure before the current protests began.
BLUE STATE POLITICAL BATTLE INTENSIFIES AFTER DEM MAYOR’S ARREST AT ICE FACILITY: ‘OUTRAGED’
The origins of the Delaney Hall 100 can be traced to February 2025 when GEO Group Inc., a federal contractor, said that it would reopen Delaney Hall in Newark as a federal immigration detention facility under a long-term contract with ICE. The facility, near Newark Liberty International Airport, had previously housed immigration detainees before closing in 2017.
In April 2025, the City of Newark filed legal challenges against the reopening, arguing that the facility had begun operations without required permits and inspections. Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka publicly opposed the project and made Delaney Hall a central issue in his ongoing dispute with federal immigration authorities and private detention contractors.
Around then, a small group of local activists began gathering outside the facility. According to accounts from participants, one activist started visiting Delaney Hall alone in the days before detainees arrived, distributing flyers to employees and raising concerns about immigration detention. Within days, two additional activists joined. What began as an informal vigil evolved into a regular presence outside the facility.
DAVID MARCUS: DEMOCRATS OWN THE CHAOS AND RACISM AT NEW JERSEY ANTI-ICE RIOTS
Those early gatherings became the foundation for what would later be known as «Eyes on ICE NJ.»
Throughout the spring and summer of 2025, the coalition expanded. Members of «NJ Peace Action,» «Pax Christi New Jersey,» «Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace,» «First Friends of New Jersey and New York» and other faith and activist organizations began participating in regular vigils and support activities.
The first major direct-action protest occurred on May 14, 2025, when clergy associated with Faith in New Jersey and several Unitarian Universalist congregations blocked the facility’s main entrance.
By the fall of 2025, multiple organizations had established an ongoing presence around the detention center.
The movement surrounding Delaney Hall largely operates through three overlapping coalitions.
The first, «Eyes on ICE NJ,» grew from the daily vigils outside the facility. Its members focus on monitoring activity at the detention center, supporting visiting families, documenting conditions and maintaining a public presence outside the gates, engaging in narrative warfare, sharing family stories with the media, putting family members in front of microphones and giving lawmakers the constituent case studies to bolster their arguments with federal officials.
The second, «ICE Out of NJ,» functions as a broader mobilization and legislative campaign. It brings together immigrant-rights organizations, rapid-response networks, labor-aligned groups and direct-action activists to oppose detention expansion and immigration enforcement policies.
The third, New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, functions as a coalition umbrella linking about 59 member organizations across the state. Its membership includes legal advocacy organizations, labor allies, immigrant-rights groups, faith-based organizations and community organizing networks.
The result is a division of labor: one coalition specializes in observation, media outreach, community support and personal narratives, while the other concentrates on mobilization, political pressure and statewide organizing, and the other focuses on the immigration issue.
Understanding the power of the Delaney Hall network requires following the nonprofit funding streams that sustain many of its major participants, including big Democratic donors like Open Society Foundations and NEO Philanthropies, that act as a source of support for some of the network’s influential participants.
SENATOR CALLS OUT ‘GRASSROOTS’ ANTI-ICE GROUPS, URGES DOJ INVESTIGATION INTO ‘COORDINATED NATIONAL OPERATION’

People are wearing hard hats, goggles and respirators near a protest site outside Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday, May 30, 2026. (Fox News Digital / Michael Dorgan)
During the Delaney Hall controversy, elected officials including Democratic Sen. Andy Kim, Sen. Cory Booker, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Rep. LaMonica McIver, Rep. Rob Menendez and others have become highly visible participants in the debate. But the protesters have also turned on them, with Indivisible organizing a protest at Sherrill’s office on Monday and Democratic Socialists of America demonstrating outside the offices of New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport on Tuesday.
While Fox News Digital has been able to compile the list of organizations that make up the Delaney Hall 100, most of the network’s work remains secretive.
«Most everything is concealed from the ground up to their identities in Signal chat rooms, their funding and names of the people on the streets and their leaders,» said Flint, the nonprofit expert. «They know what they are doing is wrong. They don’t want you to know who is in charge. They have masks on. They don’t want you to know anything about their organizations, their people. They are flipping the rules. They shout to the ICE agents: ‘You all are wearing masks.’ Meanwhile, they are wearing masks.»
«They use nonprofit status as a sword and a shield,» said Flint. «They use it to take advantage of all the rules and then when they get in trouble they use it to protect themselves.»
That tension has emerged in recent days as the protests have turned violent with more radical elements of the Delaney Hall 100 emerging with makeshift shields and swords.
By 4:31 p.m., an anonymous Signal user, using the «sqeek» moniker, shared a «MEDIC DONATIONS» list that experts said resembled one that would be prepared for a military operation, often identified by the manufacturer and brand type, including: «3M 8246 respirators,» six «Gas mask filters,» «3M 60923,» «Goggles — shatterproof, without vents or foam edges (ANSI 87.1 or MIL-PREF 32432).»
«Sqeek» punctuated the message with the emoji of a muscular flexed arm.
On cue, agitators, many of them far-left white protesters clad in the black-and-white checkered Palestinian scarf called a keffiyeh, started trickling onto Doremus Avenue in front of Delaney Hall around 8 p.m. last night, sharing their commuting and parking woes in their Signal chat.
At 9:42 p.m., one agitator, behind barriers, shouted, «This is what counterinsurgency looks like!»
And then, at 9:47 p.m., as if reading off the communications strategy script, directing the groups to call Delaney Hall a «concentration camp,» another protester yelled at the mostly minority Newark police officers and the other law enforcement authorities, her voice breaking: «You work for a concentration camp! You work for a concentration camp! Quit your job!»
«Kill yourself!» a man added, as the group broke into a chant, «Quit your job! Quit your job!»
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
homeland security, immigration, immigrant rights, new jersey, fox news investigates
INTERNACIONAL
Estados Unidos extendió sus ataques en el norte de Irán y Teherán respondió con misiles y drones

La escalada entre Estados Unidos e Irán alcanzó un nuevo pico de tensión en la madrugada del jueves, cuando las fuerzas estadounidenses intensificaron sus ataques y golpearon objetivos más al norte, incluso en las inmediaciones de Teherán.
Además, la Marina de EE.UU. disparó contra un barco que, según Washington, intentó romper el bloqueo naval impuesto sobre la República Islámica.
La respuesta iraní no tardó en llegar: el régimen lanzó misiles y drones contra Bahréin, Jordania y Kuwait antes del amanecer, en una serie de ataques que involucraron a países que albergan bases estadounidenses.
Las autoridades de esos Estados confirmaron la ofensiva, aunque no reportaron daños ni víctimas de inmediato.
Amenazas cruzadas y advertencias sobre una guerra total
El mando militar conjunto de Irán endureció su postura y advirtió que, si el presidente estadounidense Donald Trump cumple su amenaza de atacar plantas de energía y puentes en territorio iraní, la respuesta será devastadora.
“Toda la infraestructura en la región será aplastada bajo los golpes de acero de las poderosas fuerzas armadas de la República Islámica de Irán”, aseguró el coronel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, vocero del Cuartel General Central Khatam Al-Anbiya. Un buque en el estrecho de Ormuz. (Foto: REUTERS).
Zolfaghari también remarcó que Irán no permitirá bajo ningún concepto la injerencia de Estados Unidos en el estrecho de Ormuz, al que definió como “la invencible línea roja de Irán”.
La tensión en la región se disparó tras días de ataques cruzados, que hicieron añicos el acuerdo para poner fin a la guerra y reavivaron el temor a un conflicto a gran escala.
Funcionarios iraníes denunciaron que los bombardeos estadounidenses causaron más de 35 muertos y 300 heridos, y que por primera vez los ataques alcanzaron zonas cercanas a la capital.
El bloqueo naval y el impacto en el precio del petróleo
El conflicto se agravó cuando, tras el inicio de la guerra el 28 de febrero, Irán cerró de facto el estrecho de Ormuz al tráfico marítimo, lo que disparó el precio del petróleo y fertilizantes a nivel global.
Estados Unidos, que busca reabrir la vía marítima, reimpuso el bloqueo naval el miércoles, pero hasta ahora no logró restablecer el flujo normal de barcos.
El presidente del Parlamento iraní, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, advirtió que Irán está listo para una confrontación militar más amplia si Washington no respeta los términos del acuerdo.
Por su parte, la Guardia Revolucionaria amenazó con detener todas las exportaciones de energía desde Oriente Medio: “La exportación de petróleo y gas de la región será o para todos o para nadie”, sentenció.
Mientras tanto, el precio del crudo Brent superó los 85 dólares por barril, un 15% más que antes del conflicto, aunque lejos del pico de 120 dólares.
Nuevos ataques y liberación de una ciudadana estadounidense
En la última oleada de violencia, los bombardeos estadounidenses alcanzaron zonas de la provincia de Semnan, donde Irán desarrolla misiles balísticos y su programa espacial, y también la isla Gran Tunb, un punto estratégico en el estrecho de Ormuz. Además, un ataque contra la 388ª Brigada de Infantería Mecanizada en Sistán y Baluchistán dejó al menos siete muertos y varios heridos, según la televisión estatal iraní. Washington bombardeó objetivos cerca de Teherán. (Foto: US CENTCOM).
En paralelo, la Marina de EE.UU. abrió fuego contra el petrolero Belma, con bandera de Curazao, que se dirigía a la isla de Kharg, principal terminal de exportación de Irán. Tras ignorar las advertencias, una aeronave estadounidense inutilizó el buque disparando un misil a la chimenea.
En medio de la escalada, el presidente Trump afirmó que Irán hizo un gesto de buena voluntad al liberar a una ciudadana estadounidense detenida desde 2024, identificada como Dena Karari por su abogado Jared Genser. Irán no confirmó la liberación y el caso no era público hasta el momento.
El estrecho de Ormuz, epicentro de la disputa
La reapertura del estrecho de Ormuz se convirtió en el principal desafío para Estados Unidos desde que Irán impuso restricciones al inicio de la guerra. Durante la vigencia del acuerdo provisional, algunos barcos lograron cruzar por una ruta cercana a Omán, bajo supervisión militar estadounidense y fuera del control de Teherán.
Sin embargo, en los últimos días, Irán atacó embarcaciones que utilizaban esa vía, lo que derivó en nuevos enfrentamientos.
Washington amenazó con reabrir el paso por la fuerza, aunque expertos advierten que eso requeriría una operación militar de gran escala.
Mientras tanto, la región sigue en vilo y el precio del petróleo continúa en alza, en medio de amenazas cruzadas y sin señales de una solución diplomática cercana.
Estados Unidos, Irán, Medio Oriente
INTERNACIONAL
Billions in taxpayer income are leaving two iconic states — as a new economic map emerges
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
As Americans continue relocating across state lines, California and New York remain at the center of the nation’s migration story.
The latest IRS data show the top 10 counties with the largest net losses of taxpayers to other states were all located in California and New York. Compiled from federal tax returns, the figures offer one of the clearest snapshots of where Americans are relocating — and where their income is moving with them. Economists say those migration patterns help explain broader shifts in state economies, tax bases and housing markets as families weigh affordability, taxes and job opportunities when considering where they want to put down roots.
The movement of taxpayers and their income can also affect state and local tax collections, which help fund schools, public safety and infrastructure.
Los Angeles County, home to Hollywood and one of the nation’s largest economic engines, led the nation with a net loss of 17,496 tax filers. Those departing taxpayers took nearly $1.9 billion in income with them as they moved to other states.
THE RED STATES RACING AHEAD IN AMERICA’S POWERFUL WEALTH BOOM — AND THE STATES FALLING BEHIND
Other major counties in California and New York saw similar outflows. The next-largest taxpayer losses were recorded in Queens County, New York (-17,109), the Bronx (-16,319), Orange County, California (-11,618) and Suffolk County, New York (-10,434).
One New York county stood out for a different reason.
Manhattan gained more interstate tax filers than any other county in the nation while simultaneously losing nearly $1 billion in adjusted gross income, suggesting many of the newcomers earned less than those who left.
The latest data continue to point to a shift away from many of the nation’s largest coastal counties toward fast-growing destinations in the Sun Belt and Mountain West.
«It’s very, very clear that people ultimately vote with their feet and when they feel like they’re getting taxed too much, they go somewhere else where they will be taxed less,» Heritage Foundation chief economist E.J. Antoni told Fox News Digital.
«If you look at where these people are going, they’re not going to Massachusetts or Illinois or California,» Antoni said. «They’re going to Texas. They’re going to Tennessee. They’re going to Florida — places with low or no income taxes and low overall levels of taxation.»
AMERICANS KEEP MOVING TO TEXAS AND FLORIDA — BUT ONE OTHER RED STATE IS GROWING EVEN FASTER
Americans continue moving across state lines as migration patterns reshape local economies. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The remaining counties rounding out the top 10 for taxpayer losses were San Diego County, California (-9,401); Nassau County, New York (-9,130); Riverside County, California (-8,968); San Bernardino County, California (-8,462); and Kings County, New York (-6,924).
While those two states dominated the counties with the largest taxpayer losses, other parts of the country continued attracting new residents. The counties with the largest net gains in interstate tax filers were Maricopa County, Arizona (+9,353); Harris County, Texas (+8,955); King County, Washington (+8,297); and Clark County, Nevada (+7,524).
«The ‘vote with your feet’ movement, is real,» Paul Teller, a conservative strategist who previously served in the Trump-Pence White House, told Fox News Digital.
THESE STATES ARE ‘AHEAD OF THE GAME’ IN BRINGING DOWN HOME PRICES, TRUMP’S HOUSING CHIEF SAYS
Teller said Americans continue leaving high-tax, highly regulated states for places where they can keep more of what they earn and face lower costs of living, arguing the migration patterns should serve as a warning for policymakers in states that continue losing residents.
«What baffles me, especially as a former New Yorker, is that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of concern in the states that are losing people,» Teller told Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Manhattan attracted the nation’s most new tax filers between 2022 and 2023, yet still saw a sharp decline in reported income as wealthy residents left. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Teller argued the trend could carry long-term fiscal consequences if affluent taxpayers continue leaving. He said the debate has taken on renewed attention as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani advances an agenda that includes higher taxes on top earners, rent freezes for stabilized apartments, free city buses and city-owned grocery stores.
California has likewise remained at the center of debates over taxes on high-income earners, maintaining one of the nation’s highest top marginal income tax rates.
«Let’s see what happens when the wealthy keep moving out of big blue states like California and New York,» Teller said. «We’ll see what happens to tax revenue. We’re already seeing it. It’s going down significantly.»
economy, taxes, politics, new york, california, texas
INTERNACIONAL
African growth boom follows Trump push to replace aid with trade

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
FIRST ON FOX: Many African economies are accelerating – booming – since the Trump Administration shifted policy focus from aid to trade, a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital.
In some African countries, doom was forecast when the Trump administration severely cut back USAID funding, but instead there’s been unprecedented economic growth, credited to the Commercial Diplomacy Strategy, introduced at the beginning of President Trump’s second term.
Now, «nine of the 20 fastest-growing economies (in the world) are in Africa,» Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs Frank Garcia told Fox News Digital.
IRAN AND HOUTHI TERROR PROXY FACING RED SEA THREAT FROM PRO-US AFRICAN NATION
South African shoppers in Pretoria’s Central Business District. (Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Garcia added, «African economies are responding positively to the shift from aid to trade. In 2025, U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa increased by 23% to $22.6 billion. And continue to grow this year.»
When the Administration cut USAID by 83% early last year, «The predictions were catastrophic: economies heavily dependent on foreign donors—from Ethiopia to South Sudan and Malawi — were expected to collapse. Instead, something quite different happened,» Anna Mahjar-Barducci, Project Director at the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), told Fox News Digital.
«The African continent proved far more resilient than expected, citing Ethiopia, which revised its 2026 growth forecasts upward despite the funding cuts,» Mahjar-Barducci continued. «According to projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow between 4.3% and 4.6% in 2026, outpacing Asia as a whole, whose growth is forecast at around 4.1%. Growth is propelled by massive hydroelectric investments, construction, mining and expanding coffee exports.»
TRUMP GETS MAJOR WIN AGAINST CHINA IN AFRICAN RARE EARTH MINERALS RACE

Oil refinery in Ibeju Lekki district, Nigeria (Toyin Adedokun/AFP via Getty Images)
«This is no minor detail,» she continued. «For decades, we were told that without international aid Africa would collapse. Now that aid is genuinely drying up, much of the continent is not only avoiding collapse —i t is accelerating. This is precisely the argument that a long-standing school of African economic thought, now more relevant than ever, has advanced for years: aid is not the solution. In many cases, it is part of the problem.»
Assistant Secretary Garcia explained how the strategy works:» We see this economic acceleration in Africa. In order to best capitalize on it, the United States is focused on driving private investment, sustainable growth in terms of partnership and treating African nations not as aid recipients, but as capable commercial partners.»
He added «Our embassies (in Africa) work directly with the private sector to identify the policies, laws, and regulations constraining U.S. trade and investment. We then work with partner governments to develop practical reforms, identify the officials responsible for implementing them and determine where technical assistance may support implementation.»
CHRISTIAN FARMING COMMUNITIES UNDER SIEGE AS US REPORT NAMES FULANI MILITANTS NIGERIA’S DEADLIEST THREAT

An American flag and USAID flag fly outside the USAID building in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 1, 2025. (REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon)
It’s a strategy that appears to be working, with Garcia adding, «The Bureau of African Affairs has worked on 37 commercial transactions that have closed since the beginning of the (current) Trump Administration, representing $25.67 billion in total value, with more still being reported. Embassies across the continent are actively working to close hundreds more. Top sectors include Energy 24%, ICT 19%, Critical Minerals and Mining 11%, Aerospace 8%, Agriculture 8%, Infrastructure 8%.»
Mahjar-Barducci criticized the way USAID worked, telling Fox News Digital,» When aid flows to governments rather than markets, it tends to finance projects designed in Brussels, Rome, or Washington which are not responding to the actual needs of local economies. Poverty cannot be overcome by treating people as permanent recipients of charity. Poverty can be reduced by recognizing people as entrepreneurs, workers and economic partners capable of building their own prosperity.»

The Bishoftu International Airport is expected to become Africa’s largest aviation hub upon completion. (Geng Xinning/Xinhua via Getty Images)
AFRICAN UNION CHIEF DENIES GENOCIDE CLAIMS AGAINST CHRISTIANS AS CRUZ WARNS NIGERIAN OFFICIALS
Trade, rather than aid works, Mahjar-Barducci claimed. «The Trump administration’s more transactional approach to aid — access to critical minerals, or to citizens’ health data, in exchange for funding — should not be dismissed as merely cynical. Unconditional transfers have long been the deeper flaw in the traditional aid model: money with no strings attached removes any incentive for a recipient government to reform and often entrenches the same officials responsible for the underlying poverty.»
Enter the America First Global Health Strategy. A senior State Department official told Fox News Digital this week that the administration «has signed 34 bilateral global health Memoranda of Understanding(MOU) representing more than $24 billion in new health funding, including more than $14.3 billion in U.S. assistance, alongside more than $9.6 billion in co-investment from recipient countries.»
«24 of these MOUs were signed with sub-Saharan African countries,» the official continued. «These new bilateral MOUs are designed to continue life-saving care, build resilient healthcare systems, reduce dependency on American taxpayers and strengthen country ownership.»

MEKELE, ETHIOPIA – JUNE 16: Aid workers move bags of yellow lentils that are part of athree-piece «Full Package» to be distributed to residents of Geha subcity at an aid operation run by USAID, Catholic Relief Services and the Relief Society of Tigray on June 16, 2021 in Mekele, Ethiopia. (emal Countess/Getty Images)
The administration has also decided to cut funding for a U.S. anti-AIDS program known as PEPFAR. Africa has been hit hard by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. UNAIDS, the United Nations program that deals with the virus, reports that South Africa has the highest infection rate in the world.
But the State Department official Fox News Digital spoke with says South Africa must take some of the blame for cutting help to its own people. «The United States has decided to initiate a phased drawdown of PEPFAR programming in South Africa, following South Africa’s failure to make demonstrable progress on policy requests by the administration. The United States communicated to [the] South African government multiple times at many levels that PEPFAR funding would be terminated if they failed to address President Trump’s concerns.»
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
«PEPFAR was never intended to be permanent,» the official added. «Its success is measured by countries’ ability to sustain and build upon these gains. South Africa is a middle-income country and is more than capable of supporting its own health programs.»
Fox News Digital reached out to the South African government, but received no response.
africa, national security, state department, aid, donald trump, south africa
POLITICA3 días agoOperativo Reelección 2027: Los 8 Cambios Urgentes que Javier Milei Debe Implementar para Asegurar su Continuidad
ECONOMIA3 días agoAumentó 900% la cantidad de repartidores de plataforma en los últimos 6 años
INTERNACIONAL3 días agoTrump birthright citizenship fight comes roaring back with page from Kavanaugh playbook


















