Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
US assistance to Nepal under MCC among other projects halted after US President Donald Trump’s executive order to freeze foreign aid.
Fact
No, Donald Trump’s decision to freeze foreign aid has not affected MCC.
As the news of United States President Donald Trump’s executive order to freeze foreign aid has sparked concerns across the globe, a video allegedly carrying a screenshot of a news clip claiming that all US aid to Nepal will be halted in the wake of President Trump’s executive order is going viral on TikTok.
Earlier on January 21, newly elected US President Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending all U.S. foreign assistance programmes for 90 days pending reviews.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @invest0nepal posted a video carrying a screenshot of a news clip. The news clip headline reads, “President Trump has directed to end all kinds of financial assistance, Aid to Nepal’s MCC among other projects has been stopped.”
The video posted on January 25 has garnered 8224 likes, 397 users have shared it and 957 people have commented until the time of publishing this article.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the veracity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker searched for the news regarding the impact of Trump’s order to halt the US foreign aid in Nepal.
The search led us to an article, dated January 2025, published on Onlinekhabar. The article reported that Trump’s recent order is not expected to affect the MCC programme.
We also checked another article, dated January 28, published on Kathmandu Post. The article reports how President Trump’s decision affects at least four projects run under USAID. However, the article noted that there has been no communication on a review of the US aid provided through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
Further, we found another article, dated January 31, published on Nayapatrika online. The article reported that the US aid under MCC will not be affected. Quoting a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the news article noted that US Ambassador to Nepal Dean R. Thompson during a meeting with Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai said that the aid under MCC will not be halted.
Earlier on January 2, the MCC Board of Directors had approved $50 million in additional funding for the Nepal Compact.
We then reached out to the spokesperson at Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Shree Krishna Prasad Dhakal. He said that the Ministry is only aware of the fact that the assistance under USAID has been halted for now. We have not received any other information regarding MCC Nepal Compact.
What is MCC Nepal compact?
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an independent US government development agency. Earlier in February 2022, Nepal’s Parliament ratified the MCC Nepal Compact, after weeks of wrangling among the political parties that sharply and conspicuously divided Nepali society and political class—those for and against approving the aid. The MCC compact signing opened the way for the United States to support $500 million in Nepal’s power and transport infrastructure. The government of Nepal, on its part, contributes $197 million in support of the compact.
Newschecker has emailed MCC Nepal compact for its comment regarding the impact of President Trump’s recent executive order to pause for review on US foreign assistance. However, we didn’t receive any response until the time of publishing this article. This article will be updated if we receive any response from MCC Nepal compact.
Thus, our findings clearly showed that there is no indication that Trump’s decision to freeze foreign aid affects the MCC.
Conclusion
The US aid under MCC Nepal Compact has remained unaffected in spite of the US President Trump’s executive order to freeze foreign aid. The news clip carried in the viral video is misleading.
Result: False
Sources
Onlinekhabar, Jan 28, 2025
Kathmandu Post, Jan 28, 2025
Nayapatrika, January 29, 2025
MCC, Jan 2, 2025
CNN, January 25, 2025
US Embassy in Nepal, March 3, 2022
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Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
