The “America-first” approach to governance is one of the deadliest and most asinine moves Donald Trump and his gazillionaire backers have ever made.
Far from a strategy for national security, it is a myopic ideology that places billions of lives in danger.
To understand why, one must first recognize that the moniker itself is a complete misnomer. The political rhetoric suggests a noble framework: make policy decisions that center and prioritize American interests, cut anything that does not, and redirect those funds home. Under this definition, foreign aid is viewed with immediate suspicion—the first items on the chopping block because they deal with other nations.
Except for funding for Israel. How the U.S. giving Israel $3.8 billion annually is an “America-first” position, yet funding international health entities like USAID isn’t, is mind-boggling. Those U.S. dollars allow Israel’s citizens to enjoy universal healthcare and heavily subsidized, darn-near-free college education, while U.S. citizens have neither. And in Texas, you can’t even do business with any state-run institutions if you don’t sign away your free speech rights to even question that monetary arrangement.
Anywho…
Countless “America-first” policies have proven they don’t place the interests of everyday Americans, American companies, or American democracy first. Instead, they prioritize the interests of American and international oligarchs. From health outcomes and educational access to protecting voting rights and longstanding constitutional ideals, the needs of the American people are routinely sacrificed to further line the pockets of billionaires.
The illusion of isolation and the tariff trap
Cutting off funds to programs deemed “foreign” demonstrates a childish, completely inept understanding of how the modern world works. America’s interests are inextricably linked to international affairs. The “America-first” approach ignores this reality, failing to understand that defunding global initiatives is actually an “America-last” strategy where working-class citizens ultimately pay the price.
We see this clearly in the ongoing tariff wars. As every economist worth their salt warned, aggressive tariffs on foreign nations simply mean American citizens and small businesses pay exponentially more for hundreds of thousands of products. The insular mindset fails to recognize that even cars proudly wearing the “Made in America” label cannot be assembled without parts from countless foreign nations. The avalanche of closing businesses due to these rising costs doesn’t feel like “America-first.”
Furthermore, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has operated under this same destructive mantra. DOGE has cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and shut down entire agencies responsible for critical tasks, such as inspecting the quality of U.S. food. In the process, they have systematically replaced over-qualified Black people and women with highly underqualified white and white-identifying men whose ineptness has already cost thousands of lives and dollars.
Dismantling global health: The USAID catastrophe
Perhaps the most catastrophic example of this policy is the administration’s move to dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), completely shutting down its operations and firing thousands of dedicated staff members.
Through historic “pocket rescissions,” the White House canceled billions in foreign aid, claiming the agency was responsible for “wasteful and woke excesses.” Billions of dollars initially intended for global health and development were redirected just to cover the costs of closing the agency.
The impacts have been immediate and devastating:
- Global Instability: A study in the Science journal linked the abrupt withdrawal of USAID to a massive surge in violence and insurgency across fragile, aid-dependent regions in Africa.
- Healthcare Collapse: In nations like Sierra Leone, health ministries reported severe shortages of essential supplies for emergency surgeries, threatening decades of progress in reducing maternal mortality.
Blackfolk already know that the resulting negative health outcomes for African people and nations are of zero concern to an administration backed by white nationalists who proudly declare anti-Black beliefs. As human rights advocates have noted, “America-first” ideology has always been code for “Black people last,” whether targeting U.S. citizens or those abroad. Yet the small-minded view that allows diseases to spread untreated in a foreign land comes at a high cost to U.S. residents who aren’t gazillionaires. We live on an interconnected planet.
Houston as ground zero for a healthcare catastrophe
This brings the danger directly to our doorstep. Currently, hantavirus is going global, and a severe global Ebola outbreak is spreading. When USAID infrastructure was intact, Ebola was contained through localized measures and international support. Without it, the virus is moving across the planet uninhibited.
Meanwhile, within America, the main federal healthcare entities have been left completely rudderless, with no leadership in place to act. The lone high-profile healthcare official in a seat is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a man who fundamentally rejects established science and stands as a glaring example of underqualified mediocrity placed in immense power.
With these deadly diseases moving through international waters and airways, Houston now stands as ground zero for a major medical catastrophe.
| WORLD CUP HOST (HOUSTON) CITY RISK | |
| Projected Visitors | 500,000+ |
| International Matches | 7 (June 14 – July 4) |
| Expanded Format | 48 Countries Represented |
| Major U.S. Health Posts | Unmanned/No Leadership |
The World Cup committee projects that Houston will see roughly half a million visitors for seven international matches between June 14 and July 4. While local leaders focus strictly on the economic windfall coming to the Bayou City, almost no one is talking about the looming epidemics of Ebola and hantavirus that are traveling right along with those fans.
The tournament’s expanded 48-team format means dozens of different countries will have representatives arriving in our communities (and other cities, including NY, Boston, Seattle, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, and more) at a time when our federal health defenses have been completely hollowed out.
A fatal ideology
In this climate of White House ignorance, everyone within the borders of the United States stands to feel the economic, physical, and mental wellness wrath brought on by “America-first” policies. These decisions serve only the top 1% of the 1%, leaving the rest of the populace exposed to preventable global threats.
If Hollywood dramas like The Last of Us or The Walking Dead transition from television fiction into our daily, real-life reality, we will have the short-sighted “America-first” crowd to thank for leaving the gates entirely undefended.
