Trump administration redirects human rights fund to right-wing programs

The administration of President Donald Trump is pushing to redirect more than $175 million from the State Department's flagship human rights fund into a series of right-wing programs, including $40 million for an anti-communism fund, backing for a group promoting the rights of white Afrikaners in South Africa, a campaign targeting Brazil's Supreme Court and programs rewarding ideological allies in Europe who defend "Western civilizational norms".

According to a source familiar with the negotiations, the State Department on Wednesday committed to disbursing the money to recipients just hours before a deadline, despite concerns and requests to hold off from Congress. The State Department declined to comment when asked by The Guardian whether it had committed to disbursing the money and "busted" congressional holds imposed over concerns about how the funds would be used.

Criticism has centered on 43 grants totaling $176.9 million, aimed at bolstering right-wing and conservative goals around the world and potentially alienating U.S. allies by meddling in their domestic politics. The Guardian has reviewed a sample of the contested grants, which account for the bulk of the $205 million Congress allocated for the entire Human Rights and Democracy Fund (HRDF).

Sources familiar with the grant process said the awards were personally championed by members of the Trump administration, reflecting interests that include Vice President JD Vance's warnings about the collapse of traditional Western values in Europe and adviser Stephen Miller's efforts to fight immigration and support white minority groups in countries such as South Africa.

"What stood out to me was the top-level interest — including direction from the White House — in these programs," a person familiar with the discussions about the democracy grants said. "These grants were reported at the highest levels of the department and received sign-off from the White House."

The proposed list marks a significant shift in U.S. support for dissidents, human rights defenders and civil society groups under authoritarian governments. The new list includes projects in wealthy countries, focused on opposition to regulation, Brexit, immigration, anti-communism, Christian protection and opposition to "gender ideology", revealing how the Trump administration is redefining what counts as human rights and what deserves tens of millions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid.

"Congress allocates money to the democracy fund on a bipartisan basis to support human rights defenders, help victims of human rights abuses and promote democratic development abroad," said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the senior Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"The Trump administration's proposals would use taxpayer money to promote far-right organizations and programs in long-standing democracies. This is a waste of resources and undermines U.S. values and relationships with democratic partners, including allies in Europe."

A Democratic congressional aide said Shaheen had maintained 10 holds on $22 million in funding focused on Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria and the promotion of right-wing ideology in Britain and Europe. According to the aide, Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally signed a memorandum to override the holds and commit to disbursing the money.

The largest grant, $40 million, goes to a consortium led by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) — an anti-communist nonprofit that previously received much smaller grants. A State Department vetting document obtained by The Guardian records $96,997 in previous contracts between the foundation and the department over the past five years, all in fiscal year 2022, and notes the foundation was vetted in 2019 over fundraiser tickets. The document also identifies Andrew Bremberg, a former White House domestic policy adviser under Trump and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations office in Europe, as the foundation's "senior leader".

In July, ProPublica reported that Samuel Samson, a 27-year-old assistant secretary who oversees the new grants, has ties to senior VOC members through studying a graduate program at Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school. (A State Department official at the time told the outlet the relationship was not relevant to the grant.)

Samson has described the U.S. and Europe as partners in a shared civilizational struggle. Last December he visited Austria, Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia — countries once proposed to receive a $2 million grant to counter a migration wave exploited by Russia and Belarus — and criticized the NGOs that previous administrations worked with for promoting concepts he called radical, including gender theory and DEI.

The State Department did not comment on individual grants but said the programs were still in a process of "active discussion", that recipients would comply with federal grant guidance and that all programs would undergo "the standard, rigorous vetting process by grants professionals".

"Our programs in Europe are about supporting European allies in protecting those rights and principles, along with their civilizational confidence and sovereignty, from forces seeking to undermine them," a State Department official said. "The national security strategy highlights our priorities in Europe, including promoting political freedom, championing free speech and working with European partners to support Europe's recovery and civilizational confidence."

Under the law that established the fund, the money must be allocated by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, when uncommitted funds typically lapse.

The Guardian previously reported that Trump officials had drafted no-bid grants targeting right-wing and anti-immigration causes in Europe. ProPublica also reported that at least a dozen no-bid grants were designated for right-wing projects.

Documents now show how large a share of the fund the plan accounts for and which awards were dropped.

A $1 million grant titled "Countering legal abuse and censorship in Brazil" would fund civil society groups opposing what they call judicial overreach and censorship by Brazil's Supreme Court. The Trump administration sanctioned Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes last year after lobbying by Eduardo Bolsonaro, the former president's son.

A program called "Promoting Western civilizational allies" would be open only to entities that do not subscribe to "ideologically weaponized human rights views, such as gender ideology", according to the documents, with $2 million in funding. The documents name potential recipient countries as Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary and the Balkans, with an approach centered on "anti-communism" and "natural rights".

One grant is allocated to document "democratic backsliding" in Europe linked to "mass and illegal immigration" and the laws of "supranational entities", while a $1 million journalism consortium would push back against media outlets labeled "trusted". The list also includes $2 million for early-warning networks protecting Christians in Nigeria.

A $3 million no-bid grant would go to the Jobs Foundation, a British group run by Matthew Elliott, who led the Vote Leave campaign. The grant, titled "Countering regulatory abuse to promote American investment", would promote a "common good capitalism index" and pro-business policy, including how the fund promoted Brexit as an opportunity to cut British climate regulation.

The documents also show that a proposed $5 million no-bid grant for the Free Speech Union, a British group founded by Toby Young, was marked "withdrawn". When the grant was first reported in July, Young said the group had never sought or received U.S. government money (though Trump officials were said to have met the group during a trip to Europe late last year).

The grant would have paid the group to campaign against online safety and hate speech laws, including Britain's Online Safety Act, legislation passed under the Conservatives in 2023. Designed to protect children from harmful content and enforced by Ofcom, the law includes age-verification rules — in force since last year — that have frequently been criticized by the Trump administration as censorship.

The Free Speech Union is the second British group to be dropped from the list. A $7 million no-bid grant for 878, a thinktank whose mission includes restoring Judeo-Christian culture and "ending mass migration and deporting illegal immigrants", was scrapped in July after objections from Congress. The organization was founded by Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former Brexit opportunities and business secretary who lost his seat in the 2024 election and now hosts a show on GB News.

The grants for Britain would channel $15 million in U.S. taxpayer money to groups run by two sitting Conservative members of the House of Lords and a former cabinet minister, spanning issues from online safety law to immigration.