Nana thought for a second, and then shook her head. Donald Trump? No, never heard of him.
Her humble, earthen home and field of cassava are about as far from Washington as it gets. She lives in Madagascar, an impoverished island hundreds of miles off the coast of Africa — and tiny Betsingilo is a week-long trip by bus from the country’s capital.
The distance has not stopped Trump’s foreign policy from affecting people’s lives here.
Madagascar is one of dozens of countries where health providers are facing cutbacks or other disruptions after a dramatic change to foreign aid by the Trump administration. Little noticed by many Americans, the shift could have profound consequences in rural communities like Nana’s.
The policy change was one of Trump’s first acts as president. On Jan. 23, 2017, he signed an executive order that denied U.S. assistance to any foreign-based organization that performs, promotes or offers information on abortion.
A similar plan, known as the Mexico City policy, was in effect under past Republican presidents. But Trump expanded it exponentially to apply not just to around $600 million in overseas family-planning funds, but to the entire $8.8 billion in annual U.S. global health aid.
