WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has rejected accusations that Washington was unable to assist Myanmar in the aftermath of the devastating March 28 earthquake due to cuts in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) during the Trump administration.
In an interview with the BBC, Rubio dismissed the criticism, stating, “We are not the government of the world.”
This came in response to questions about why the U.S. had not deployed rescue teams as it had done in past disasters.
Former USAID officials had earlier claimed that the U.S. could not send rescuers or sniffer dogs because of the dismantling of the agency under the Trump administration.
Rubio defended the U.S. approach, explaining that while the U.S. has always prioritized humanitarian aid, there are other competing global priorities.
“There’s a lot of other rich countries in the world; they should all be pitching in,” Rubio stated. He added, “We’re going to do our part. We already have people there. We’ll have more people there. We’ll help as much as we can, but it’s not the easiest place to work… they have a military junta that doesn’t like us.”
The earthquake, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives, has prompted global humanitarian responses, with teams from China and India being among the first to arrive.
U.S. officials, however, noted that the country’s ability to respond was hampered by the Myanmar military regime’s reluctance to allow foreign assistance.
Despite this, Rubio maintained that the U.S. has a presence in the region and would continue to help, but emphasized that other nations should also contribute.
“China is a very rich country. India is a rich country. There are a lot of other countries in the world, and everyone should pitch in,” he said.
Earlier this week, former USAID officials revealed that the Trump administration’s cuts to the agency, which included the cancellation of logistics contracts and layoffs of key officials, left the U.S. without the capacity to deploy a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.
In response to these concerns, Rubio argued that the cuts were necessary to reduce government spending, criticizing NGOs that rely on U.S. taxpayer funding.
“We’re not going to fund these global NGOs all over the world that are living off of this. We’re not doing it,” Rubio stated, adding, “We are prepared to help and work with governments and appropriate NGOs on the ground that are delivering assistance. We will be there, and we will be helpful, but there are a lot of other rich countries, they should also pitch in and help.”
The Trump administration’s cuts to USAID were part of a broader push to reduce foreign aid, with President Trump calling it an “industry” that often contradicted American values.
Under the guidance of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), these cuts significantly impacted the U.S. government’s ability to deploy resources for international humanitarian missions.
