The Trump administration’s decision to freeze foreign aid programs has sent shockwaves through the vast humanitarian aid industry. For years, billions of taxpayer dollars have flowed into programs that, knowingly or not, end up supporting Islamist organizations, both domestically and abroad. The U.S. government has, in effect, become one of the largest financiers of global Islamism.
Violent extremist groups, in particular, have benefited enormously. The State Department and USAID have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorist organizations and their affiliates. Bureaucrats, paid humanitarian workers, and terror-linked Islamists have all played a role in creating and sustaining this system.
Since 2016, USAID has provided more than $900,000 to the Bayader Association for Environment and Development, a Gaza-based organization with known terrorist ties. The most recent grant, issued on October 1, 2023, came just six days before Hamas launched its brutal October 7 attack, killing nearly 1,200 Israelis.
Bayader received this funding as a sub-grantee of USAID, meaning the money was first routed through a sponsoring U.S. nonprofit, which was supposed to vet its partners. That nonprofit was ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid), one of the largest American charities operating in the Palestinian territories.
ANERA, founded in 1968, reported revenues of over $170 million in its 2022 tax filings. USAID has been one of its biggest backers, providing tens of millions of dollars over the years, including a $12.5 million grant in 2024.
Despite this official partnership, ANERA has been accused repeatedly of supporting extremists connected to Hamas. Reports dating back decades have detailed ANERA’s links to terrorist networks. Today, ANERA maintains close ties with Bayader, Hamas’s affiliated charity.
In 2017, the Israel Law Center accused ANERA of directing funds to kindergartens run by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), where children were indoctrinated with violent anti-Israel propaganda. The report also found financial links to other Hamas-aligned groups.
In August 2022, USAID itself celebrated its funding of a new community center in Gaza, constructed by ANERA. However, the recipient of this support was the Unlimited Friends Association (UFA), an organization with deep ties to Hamas leaders. UFA openly spreads anti-Semitic rhetoric, organizes financial support for the families of “martyrs,” and has described fallen terrorists as “orphans” in need of sponsorship.
Islamic Relief is one of the largest Islamist financial institutions in the world. Established in the U.K., it now operates in over 40 countries, with leadership deeply connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. The organization has been banned or blacklisted in several Arab and European nations due to its ties to extremism.
Despite these red flags, USAID approved $2 million in funding for two branches of Islamic Relief. In 2022, the organization partnered with Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad, who publicly declared after the October 7 attacks that Hamas would continue its massacres “until Israel is annihilated.”
USAID has also directly funded groups designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.
In 2014, the agency awarded $723,405 to World Vision Inc., a major evangelical charity, for projects in Sudan. A portion of this money—$200,000—was allocated to the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA), an organization officially designated as a terrorist entity by the U.S. Treasury in 2004.
ISRA was sanctioned due to its extensive ties to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. According to the Treasury Department, ISRA worked directly with bin Laden’s financial network and even attempted to relocate him to a secure location. The group also raised $5 million for al-Qaeda and Hamas suicide bombings.
Despite ISRA’s status as a designated terrorist group, USAID still approved funding through World Vision, demonstrating serious lapses in oversight.
Muslim Aid: Another Islamist Beneficiary
Muslim Aid, a U.K.-based charity founded in 1985, has grown into one of the world’s largest Islamic charities. However, it is widely recognized as an outpost of Jamaat-e-Islami, a radical South Asian Islamist movement.
In 2013, USAID authorized a $1.5 million grant to Muslim Aid through the international development organization ACDI.
In Pakistan, Muslim Aid openly collaborates with Al-Khidmat, Jamaat-e-Islami’s so-called charity wing. Al-Khidmat not only funds Hamas but also maintains ties with Hizbul Mujahideen, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization active in India.
The evidence is overwhelming: U.S. foreign aid is being exploited to finance Islamist organizations and, in some cases, outright terrorist groups. While USAID and the State Department claim to have safeguards in place, billions of dollars continue to flow into extremist networks.
The Trump administration’s decision to freeze these programs represents a long-overdue effort to disrupt the cycle of taxpayer-funded terror financing. However, without permanent reforms, the risk remains that future administrations will reinstate funding without proper oversight—once again fueling global jihad at the expense of American taxpayers.