Anne Applebaum

And this has been a Republican and Democrat, you know, have supported this. This is not- IRI was involved, like the International Republican- So IRI is not part of USAID. I'm not sure actually.

I'll explain. I'll get to that in a second. So You know, there's something called the National Endowment for Democracy, which I used to be on the board of, under which is IRI, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. They do a lot of direct democracy funding, too. And Musk has also been tweeting about them and how bad they are.

I'll explain. I'll get to that in a second. So You know, there's something called the National Endowment for Democracy, which I used to be on the board of, under which is IRI, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. They do a lot of direct democracy funding, too. And Musk has also been tweeting about them and how bad they are.

I'll explain. I'll get to that in a second. So You know, there's something called the National Endowment for Democracy, which I used to be on the board of, under which is IRI, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. They do a lot of direct democracy funding, too. And Musk has also been tweeting about them and how bad they are.

USAID, in addition, also does some of the same kind of stuff. It may be that we now have, and this, I just don't know whether, I don't know whether Trump himself knows about this or who exactly is. It may be that we're not going to do that anymore. You know, we don't stand for democracy anymore. And so we won't promote democracy anymore. And so all the institutions and organizations

USAID, in addition, also does some of the same kind of stuff. It may be that we now have, and this, I just don't know whether, I don't know whether Trump himself knows about this or who exactly is. It may be that we're not going to do that anymore. You know, we don't stand for democracy anymore. And so we won't promote democracy anymore. And so all the institutions and organizations

USAID, in addition, also does some of the same kind of stuff. It may be that we now have, and this, I just don't know whether, I don't know whether Trump himself knows about this or who exactly is. It may be that we're not going to do that anymore. You know, we don't stand for democracy anymore. And so we won't promote democracy anymore. And so all the institutions and organizations

that have been doing that in many cases very successfully. A lot of what IRI and NDI do is just to do with direct relations with other political parties around the world. It's, you know, it's like a second tier level of foreign policy. I mean, some of it isn't even just about funding.

that have been doing that in many cases very successfully. A lot of what IRI and NDI do is just to do with direct relations with other political parties around the world. It's, you know, it's like a second tier level of foreign policy. I mean, some of it isn't even just about funding.

that have been doing that in many cases very successfully. A lot of what IRI and NDI do is just to do with direct relations with other political parties around the world. It's, you know, it's like a second tier level of foreign policy. I mean, some of it isn't even just about funding.

It's about like, you know, the IRI would have relationships with conservative parties in Europe and NDI would have relationships with center left parties. And, you know, there are a lot of other things that those organizations do that have been really, really important in maintaining the role of the U.S. as the leader of a broad democratic alliance.

It's about like, you know, the IRI would have relationships with conservative parties in Europe and NDI would have relationships with center left parties. And, you know, there are a lot of other things that those organizations do that have been really, really important in maintaining the role of the U.S. as the leader of a broad democratic alliance.

It's about like, you know, the IRI would have relationships with conservative parties in Europe and NDI would have relationships with center left parties. And, you know, there are a lot of other things that those organizations do that have been really, really important in maintaining the role of the U.S. as the leader of a broad democratic alliance.

None of it is very expensive by the standards of the U.S. budget. These are very small amounts of money. You know, USAID is less than 1% and the democracy promotion activities must be, I don't know off the top of my head, I can't give you a statistic, but some very, very, very small fraction of that. So it's some very tiny, tiny thing.

None of it is very expensive by the standards of the U.S. budget. These are very small amounts of money. You know, USAID is less than 1% and the democracy promotion activities must be, I don't know off the top of my head, I can't give you a statistic, but some very, very, very small fraction of that. So it's some very tiny, tiny thing.

None of it is very expensive by the standards of the U.S. budget. These are very small amounts of money. You know, USAID is less than 1% and the democracy promotion activities must be, I don't know off the top of my head, I can't give you a statistic, but some very, very, very small fraction of that. So it's some very tiny, tiny thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And IRI, I should say the big, you know, McCain was one of the leaders of IRI. You know, lots of prominent Republican senators have been involved in it for for a long time. And so if we're cutting off that, you know, we're not doing that anymore.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And IRI, I should say the big, you know, McCain was one of the leaders of IRI. You know, lots of prominent Republican senators have been involved in it for for a long time. And so if we're cutting off that, you know, we're not doing that anymore.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And IRI, I should say the big, you know, McCain was one of the leaders of IRI. You know, lots of prominent Republican senators have been involved in it for for a long time. And so if we're cutting off that, you know, we're not doing that anymore.

and we don't stand for democracy, democracy is not part of our foreign policy, it's not part of who we are or how we're identified, then a lot of what the U.S. has stood for positively internationally will disappear or go away. And it's hard for me to quantify the harm to Americans from that. I realize it's kind of three levels removed from what ordinary people think.