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The Trump administration<\/a> will block organizations that receive US foreign aid from subsidizing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives<\/a> and what the administration calls \u201cgender ideology\u201d. The new policy will affect about $30bn in foreign assistance.<\/p>\n The decision, confirmed to the Guardian by a state department spokesperson on Thursday morning, marks a dramatic expansion of the so-called \u201cMexico City policy\u201d, which blocks non-US non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from receiving some forms of US funding if they provide abortion-related services or advocate for abortion rights overseas. Now, that policy \u2013 which abortion rights supporters call the \u201cglobal gag rule\u201d \u2013 will also apply to international organizations and US-based NGOs operating abroad.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump continues to deliver on his promise to end woke foreign assistance,\u201d the state department spokesperson said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n First introduced by Ronald Reagan in 1984, the Mexico City policy is typically rescinded whenever a Democrat wins the White House and reinstated whenever a Republican wins. Usually, the policy applies only to dollars that have been set aside for family planning assistance, which account for about $600m worth of aid.<\/p>\n However, during his first administration, Trump extended the policy to apply to all global health assistance, changing the terms of an estimated $7.3bn worth of aid. The effect was ruinous, advocacy groups say. MSI Reproductive Choices, a global family planning organization that works in nearly 40 countries, has said that the policy led it to shutter services in countries like Uganda, Madagascar and Nepal.<\/p>\n \u201cYou then end up with a whole generation of women and girls who are growing up in this stigmatized environment with no notion of where to go to find out information about their health and their rights,\u201d said Sarah Shaw, Marie Stopes International\u2019s associate director of advocacy. \u201cAny effort to expand this is even more catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n After returning to power in January 2025, Trump reinstated his version of the<\/a> <\/a><\/strong>Mexico City policy<\/a>. Now, his newest expansion of the policy will affect not only money earmarked for global health aid, but vast swathes of foreign assistance.<\/p>\n It will also block groups from using foreign assistance funds if they pay for what the state department spokesperson called \u201cabortion as a form of family planning\u201d. The spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for clarification about how that requirement differs from past versions of the Mexico City policy.<\/p>\n The new Mexico City policy decision deepens the Trump administration\u2019s ongoing crackdown on DEI efforts, and rights for transgender and nonbinary people. (\u201cGender ideology\u201d is the rightwing shorthand for the idea that gender is fluid and trans and non-binary people exist.) Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders that generally ended the federal government\u2019s support<\/a> for DEI initiatives, proclaimed that there are only two genders<\/a> and attacked government efforts to recognize trans people<\/a>. His administration has also undermined research<\/a> that worked to further racial and gender equity.<\/p>\n