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Dark Money for Soft Power

The Trumpily named Campaign for America First International Assistance hopes to sway conservative voters to support the kinds of programs gutted by Trump's DOGE.

Mariannette Miller-Meeks
According to exclusive new polling from G.O.P. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’s Iowa swing district, 52 percent of self-identified “very conservative” voters now support international aid to combat diseases like Ebola and malaria, and sustain programs such as Food for Peace. So does the same share of Trump ’24 voters. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images
Leigh Ann Caldwell
April 8, 2026

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DHow durable was the America First backlash that manifested in debilitating cuts to foreign aid last year? Well, according to exclusive new polling from G.O.P. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’s Iowa swing district, 52 percent of self-identified “very conservative” voters now support international aid to combat diseases like Ebola and malaria, and sustain programs such as Food for Peace. So does the same share of Trump ’24 voters. These are the very kinds of programs that were eliminated or sharply curtailed by DOGE and the dismantling of  USAID—moves conservatives once heartily applauded.