White House Says Media Pushing Fake News About Global HIV/AIDS Funding

The White House on Tuesday rebuffed media claims that the Trump administration was gutting funding for life-saving HIV/AIDS treatments. 

A senior administration official told The Daily Wire that cuts to PEPFAR, global health funding provided by the United States to combat AIDS and HIV, were not impacting essential life-saving services. The official noted that there were some targeted cuts to ideological aspects of the program. 

“America remains the most generous country in the world because President Trump has a humanitarian heart, and we urge other nations to dramatically increase their humanitarian efforts,” the official told The Daily Wire. “PEPFAR continues to support lifesaving HIV testing, care and treatment, and prevention of mother to child transmission services approved by the Secretary of State.”

The official’s comments come as some media outlets, such as NPR, have claimed that the Trump administration is gutting AIDS relief.

The official noted that 86% of PEPFAR funding was going to direct treatment activities, and that over 18 million people were still benefitting from the program across 40 countries. The official added that there have been some “limited cuts” to “LGBTQ education and capacity building” aspects of the program, but “not core life-saving care.”

At the same time, the White House called for other countries to step up their contributions to fighting HIV/AIDS.

“We’re already working with countries and other partners to ensure that they shoulder a greater share of the burden where they can. We continue to make targeted investments in mother to child prevention, and other key areas of focus,” the official told The Daily Wire. 

The official also said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has approved $1.3 billion in funding to fight HIV/AIDS, of which at least 60% will go towards the purchase of anti-retrovirals and other commodities.

“But Secretary Rubio has kept life-saving and high-impact aid programs ongoing, with cuts targeting wasteful DEI programs, capacity building, waste and bloat at the United Nations and left-wing NGOs and other activities that saved no lives,” the official added. 

The official said the prioritizing of “high-impact lifesaving” aid would serve “as a catalyst for private and partner country investment.”

“President Trump’s peace through shared prosperity approach will ultimately lead to higher standards of living and greater impact from U.S. engagement around the world,” the official noted.