As the United States continues its efforts to counter China’s growing influence across the Global South, recent budget cuts from the Trump administration—and the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk—have delivered a major blow to USAID and now threaten American diplomacy more broadly. These reductions risk unraveling progress made during the Biden years to re-engage with African nations and raise pressing questions about the new administration’s diplomatic strategy in this intensifying contest for influence.
The budget cuts come at a time when many U.S. diplomatic missions in Africa are already understaffed. Their further weakening stands in stark contrast to China’s expanding and increasingly diverse presence on the continent. Today, China operates 60 diplomatic missions across Africa, compared to 56 for the United States. As China doubles down on long-term strategic relationships, the U.S. appears to be retreating.
