amount of foreign aid us gives to other countries
United States foreign aid Foreign aid is generally unpopular with the general public, with a 2017 poll finding 57% favor a cut and 6% who want increased aid.[4] On the other hand, foreign aid has bipartisan support in Congress,[5] and most Americans overestimate foreign aid as a share of the total federal budget. In the past, less than 1% of the national budget went to foreign assistance.[6][7] As of fiscal year 2017, foreign aid between the U.S. State Department and USAID totaled $50.1 billion, or just over 1% of the budget.[8]
Military Assistance Advisory Group In September 1950, US President Harry Truman sent the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) to Vietnam to assist the French in the First Indochina War. The President claimed they were not sent as combat troops, but to supervise the use of $10 million worth of US military equipment to support the French in their effort to fight the Viet Minh forces. By 1953, aid increased dramatically to $350 million to replace old military equipment owned by the French.[2]