The Trump administration is entering into bilateral agreements with countries affected by widespread reductions in U.S. foreign aid.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has signed an agreement providing $480 million in public health aid to Ivory Coast.

The agreement, signed Tuesday in Abidjan, the capital of the West African country, is the latest turning point in the Trump administration’s “America First” global health strategy.

The plan envisions entering into bilateral agreements with dozens of countries to receive U.S. health aid following the administration’s elimination of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Trump administration has maintained that U.S. foreign aid policy is ineffective and unnecessary, saying bilateral agreements would create more accountability, oversight and, ultimately, self-sufficiency.

Experts have questioned the effectiveness of this approach and sounded the alarm about its transactional nature.

At the signing ceremony Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to Ivory Coast Jessica Davis Ba said the U.S. government was moving “beyond the traditional approach to aid to a model focused on trade, innovation and shared prosperity.”

“Today, our bilateral cooperation enters a new phase. We are implementing the America First global health strategy,” the ambassador said.

As part of the agreement, Ivory Coast has committed to ultimately providing up to $292 million in health financing by 2030, Ivorian Prime Minister Robert Beugre Mambe said.

The deal is the largest of more than a dozen other agreements reached so far by the Trump administration under the new strategy.

Cuts to USAID

Significant USAID budget cuts earlier this year disrupted public health services around the world, with Africa particularly hard hit.

This has raised concerns about the potential increase in the spread of HIV on the continent, declining maternal and child health care, increased cases of malaria and reduced early detection of new infectious diseases.

While the Ivory Coast deal and other new bilateral agreements seek to address these issues, public health experts are wary of the administration’s approach.

An analysis earlier this month by the Center for Global Development indicates that the new strategy presents several potentially beneficial changes to the delivery of health assistance abroad.

However, these changes “carry enormous risks to service delivery and hard-won public health gains,” wrote senior analyst Jocilyn Estes and policy researcher Janeen Madan Keller.

The pair identified several potential areas of risk, including public health priorities that could be shaped by “transactional pressures,” questions about surveillance, and a lack of clarity on how services will be protected if a partner country is unable to meet its commitments.

Experts further question what the strategy would mean for aid in areas where there is no “credible or stable government.”

“Implementing a reconfigured approach to U.S. global health assistance – particularly direct government assistance – at such scale and speed is unprecedented,” they wrote, adding that “every point of potential failure puts lives at risk.”

U.S. forces and regional partners have killed or captured nearly 25 Islamic State operatives in Syria this month, stepping up pressure on the terror group after a deadly ambush that left two U.S. soldiers and a civilian interpreter dead.

In an article on

“US and partner forces killed or captured nearly 25 ISIS operatives in the days following a large-scale strike in Syria on December 19,” CENTCOM said, adding that at least seven ISIS operatives were killed, others were arrested and four weapons caches were destroyed.

These missions follow Operation Hawkeye Strike, a coordinated campaign involving U.S. and Jordanian forces that hit more than 70 ISIS targets using more than 100 precision-guided munitions. US Central Command said dozens of fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery systems were used to destroy IS infrastructure and weapons sites in central Syria.

“We will not give in,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, who led the command. “We are firmly committed to working with our regional partners to eliminate the threat that ISIS poses to the security of the United States and the region. »

The intensifying campaign follows a Dec. 13 ambush near the ancient city of Palmyra, where U.S. and Syrian security officials had gathered for a meeting. Two members of the Iowa National Guard and a civilian interpreter from Michigan were killed, while three other U.S. troops and members of Syrian security forces were injured, according to the Associated Press.

Syrian officials said the attacker, who was killed in the incident, had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base guard and was later reassigned due to suspected links to Islamic State.

According to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the latest missions have targeted a wide range of ISIS members, from high-ranking figures placed under long-term surveillance to lower-level fighters. The official said growing cooperation between U.S. forces and Syria’s relatively new government has enabled operations in previously inaccessible areas.

The command said the intensified operations were part of a broader effort to prevent a resurgence of ISIS. In 2025 alone, the group inspired at least 11 plots or attacks against U.S. targets. Over the past year, U.S. and partner forces in Syria have arrested more than 300 suspected militants and killed more than 20 others.

“Continuing to hunt down terrorists, eliminate ISIS networks and work with partners to prevent a resurgence of ISIS makes America, the region and the world safer,” Cooper said.

The initial retaliatory strikes also represented a key test of warming relations between Washington and Damascus following the ouster of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last year. US President Donald Trump said Syria’s new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, was “extremely angry and disturbed” by the ambush in which US personnel were killed.

– Ends

With contributions from the Associated Press

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