‘We are in dark times’: Donald Trump’s USAID freeze claims first victim after 71-year-old’s oxygen supply was cut off

Donald Trump’s dismantling of USAID has cost its first life. A 71-year-old woman from Myanmar died after funding cuts led to her discharge from a USAID-funded healthcare center that was supplying her oxygen.

Following his inauguration, Trump and Elon Musk launched an abrupt, aggressive takedown of the United States Agency for International Development, instigating mass layoffs and freezing funding. Musk claims the department, which provides billions in civilian foreign aid, was wasting resources and involved in fraud. However, he has been able to provide no proof of this alleged misuse of funds. All he has given Americans are blatant lies, such as that USAID was funding Politico and sent $50 million worth of condoms to Gaza. Since these claims have been debunked, the Trump administration has not provided a valid reason for the freeze. If the administration wanted to review the department and consider scaling back funds, that would be acceptable, but it can do such a review without freezing a department that provides life-saving aid. The unnecessary freeze is now sparking chaos, fostering waste, and claiming lives.

Since the freeze, USAID-funded healthcare centers have closed and turned away patients, HIV treatments have been paused, and food distribution has been halted. Because of the freeze, $500 million worth of food aid is currently at risk of spoiling, while billions in appropriated funds are now untrackable and at high risk of actual misuse. Also, as predicted, the loss of lives has begun.

Woman dies due to USAID funding cuts

As reported by The Telegraph, Trump’s attack on USAID has claimed one of its first lives. Pe Kha Lau was a 71-year-old Myanmar refugee living in a Thai displacement camp. She was a frequent patient at a USAID-funded healthcare facility for three years because it supplied the oxygen she depended on. However, the center and many others abruptly closed down to comply with Trump’s aggressive stop-work order. Although these centers might be exempt from the stop-work order because of their life-saving services, the wide-reaching order sparked chaos, and there’s no timeline for when exemptions/waivers will be granted. For now, staffers providing life-saving services have simply had to halt operations while waiting for clarity or direction.

Seven out of nine USAID-funded hospitals near the Myanmar border were locked down, including the one Pe Kha Lau frequented. She was sent home without oxygen, and her condition quickly deteriorated. When she asked to return to the clinic, she was told there was no more hospital. She passed away four days after being sent home. While her passing was one of the first confirmed as a direct result of USAID cuts, it’s believed many more have died, as well. These healthcare centers were servicing tens of thousands of refugees who fled the civil war raging in Myanmar. Upon the stop-work order, though, healthcare workers simply left and shut the hospital doors. Patients were left without treatment, and some reportedly were so ill they had to be carried out of the hospitals that closed. Sick patients were left without life-saving oxygen supplies, and women have been left to give birth in abandoned buildings.

TikTok reporter Aaron Parnas also shared the news. In the comments on his video, one user wrote, “We are in DARK times.” However, the worst part is that these dark times are completely unnecessary. The deaths occurring globally from Trump’s actions were wholly avoidable. As mentioned above, the administration easily could’ve taken time to carefully review the program and decide on funding/programs to phase out instead of just stopping everything at once. A doctor working in Myanmar told The Telegraph Trump’s actions demonstrate “a total lack of respect for ill people and life.”

If Musk and Trump don’t want America to help anyone but itself, they can get to that point eventually. However, they must understand that USAID has already committed to and appropriated funds for specific causes and programs. It can’t just turn its back on these commitments overnight and let countless people die. It especially can’t tell workers already stationed in hospitals just to walk out mid-job even if they still have the ability to provide treatment. America should’ve foreseen this tragedy when they let two greedy billionaires into the White House. They’re only capable of seeing dollar signs, raising fears for how many more people will die worldwide because they specifically chose the most lethal way to dismantle USAID.