Samaritan’s Purse has received $19 million in previously frozen USAID funds, Ministry Watch reported March 19.
The faith-based relief agency led by Franklin Graham — one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters — is among the many global nonprofits caught short by the Trump administration’s sudden and chaotic freeze of funds for everything from feeding children to stopping the spread of deadly diseases.
Those cuts were mandated by Elon Musk and his DOGE team. They were met with howls of protest from both Democrats and Republicans and have been cited as among the most cruel actions of the new administration.
Franklin Graham
Graham, however, has continued to praise Trump and Musk even while his own organization suffered.
“There has never really been a review of the policies and the procedures and expenditures. To take a pause and to shake things up and hold people accountable, I think, is very good,” Graham told TIME.
He defended the Trump administration belief that USAID was somehow misappropriating funds and captive to a “leftist” agenda.
“Because the staff at USAID was allowed to misappropriate billions of dollars, I think the pendulum is going to swing to a point where the baby may be thrown out with the bathwater,” he said. “And that is tragic, but it’s because the culture of USAID got so far off track.”
Samaritan’s Purse likely would not have received the $19 million payment — for service already rendered — were it not for U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C. He ordered the administration to pay up the $2 billion in federal funds due to hundreds of organizations that were due reimbursement. The administration failed to meet the court’s stated deadline but appears to be moving toward fulfilling the back payments.
That does not mean any of these organizations will receive federal funding going forward. The White House has said up to 90% of previous USAID funding will not be restored. The agency itself has been shuttered and its employees fired.
Officials told Ministry Watch the $19 million just received is reimbursement for aid already provided in Sudan, South Sudan and Congo.
Not all nonprofits owed back funds from USAID contracts have reported receiving payment yet. The court deadline was Feb. 26, but federal officials said they hope to have the task completed by today, March 20.
It is possible Trump’s shutdown of USAID will be found illegal, but the damage already is done.
It is not yet clear what relationship Samaritan’s Purse may have with the Trump administration going forward.
Ministry Watch reported Samaritan’s Purse depended on federal grants for about 4% of its $1.2 billion in annual revenue. That’s a different scenario than World Vision, which received about 44% of its $1.5 billion annual revenue from federal grants.
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