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Betrayal Without Bombs: Trump Just Starved a Nation for a Deal with Tyrants [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-13
Donald Trump just did something unspeakable—and he didn’t need to fire a single bullet to do it.
He signed away $67 million in humanitarian aid to Yemen, a country in the grip of what the United Nations calls “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.” Eighty percent of Yemen’s population—24.1 million people—rely on aid to survive. Children are starving. Hospitals are failing. Disease is spreading. And now, their lifeline is gone.
This isn’t just a budget cut. It’s a death sentence.
And while Yemenis beg for bread, Trump is preparing a triumphant visit to Saudi Arabia—the very regime responsible for years of devastation and bloodshed in the region. A regime that has murdered migrants at its border, tortured Yemeni workers, and crushed dissent with brutal efficiency. A regime that would rather bury civilians than feed them.
This is who Trump is shaking hands with.
In fact, Saudi Arabia is the first country Trump plans to visit in his second term. He’s made no secret of why: he brags about forcing the Saudis to promise “a trillion dollars” in business for American companies. Not human rights. Not stability. Not justice. Money.
“They agreed to do that. So I am gonna be going there,” Trump said from the Oval Office.
While he sells out American diplomacy to the highest bidder, the U.S. government is now pulling away from USAID’s life-saving work. Doctors are being told to pack up. Aid trucks are being stopped. Children are being left behind.
And at home? The parallels are chilling. Trump is silencing dissent just as the Saudis do—targeting journalists, deporting critics, and labeling student protesters as threats to national security. He's attacking LGBTQ+ rights with the same ruthless fervor the Saudi regime uses to criminalize identity. He ends protections for migrants here, while cheering on forced deportations abroad. This isn't just an alliance. It's a shared authoritarian playbook.
We used to stand for something. We used to believe in the dignity of every human life—no matter where they were born. But under Trump, we’ve gone from defenders of liberty to dealers in suffering. We are betraying not only the people of Yemen—but the very moral order our ancestors fought to build.
This is not foreign policy. It’s moral failure.
America has often fallen short of its ideals. But we once had ideals to fall short of. Humanitarian aid was never about politics—it was about humanity. USAID workers didn’t ask who you voted for. They didn’t ask which flag flew over your house. They asked how they could help.
Now, under Trump’s leadership, America is asking no questions and offering no help.
But we’re not done yet. Because true patriotism means standing up for our values when they’re under attack. It means raising our voices when those in power try to silence them. And it means defending the stars and stripes not just in speech—but in spirit.
We must speak out.
We must stand up for the people left starving in the dark.
We must defend the values that once made America a force for good in this world.
Because the world is watching. And history will remember.
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