Trump administration diverts human rights funds to push far-right agenda abroad

KUALA LUMPUR, 2 OCTOBER 2026 —

The Trump administration obligated more than $175 million from the State Department’s flagship Human Rights and Democracy Fund on Wednesday, directing the money to a slate of 43 awards that includes a $40 million grant for an anti-communism consortium, support for a group advocating white Afrikaner rights in South Africa, a campaign targeting Brazil’s supreme court, and programs designed to reward ideological allies in Europe who pledge to defend “western civilizational norms.” The funds were committed hours before the September 30 fiscal-year deadline despite congressional holds and explicit requests from lawmakers not to proceed, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

“The Trump administration’s proposals would use taxpayer funds to promote far-right organizations and programs in established democracies,” said Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “This is a waste of resources and undermines United States values and relations with democratic partners, including allies in Europe.”

Shaheen had placed 10 holds on $22 million of the awards, targeting projects in Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, and the promotion of right-wing ideology in the United Kingdom and Europe, according to a Democratic congressional aide. Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally signed a memo disregarding those holds and obligating the funds, the aide said.

The State Department declined to answer specific questions from the Guardian about whether it had obligated the money and “blown” the congressional holds. In a written statement, a department official said the programs remained in “active deliberation,” that awardees would meet federal grant guidelines, and that all programming would undergo a “standard and rigorous vetting process by grant professionals.”

The largest single award, $40 million, goes to a consortium led by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, an anti-communist non-profit that had received only $96,997 in State Department contracts over the previous five years, all in fiscal 2022. A department vetting document identifies Andrew Bremberg, a former Trump White House domestic policy adviser and U.S. ambassador to the UN European office, as a “senior leader” of the foundation.

Samuel Samson, the 27-year-old deputy assistant secretary overseeing the new grants, was linked to senior VOC members through his studies at the Christian conservative Hillsdale College graduate program, ProPublica reported in July.

Samson has described the United States and Europe as partners in a shared civilizational struggle and toured Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia in December — all countries floated to receive a $2 million grant to counter migration described as weaponized by Russia and Belarus. During that trip, he criticized non-governmental organizations that previous administrations had worked with for promoting what he called radical concepts, including gender theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

A State Department official defended the European programming in a statement: “Our programming in Europe aims to support our European allies in defending those rights and principles, along with their civilizational self-confidence and sovereignty from those who seek to undermine them.

The national security strategy highlights our priorities in Europe, which includes advancing political liberty, promoting free speech, and collaborating with European partners to jointly support European revitalization and civilizational self-confidence.” The language mirrors warnings from Vice President JD Vance about the collapse of traditional western values in Europe and aligns with senior adviser Stephen Miller’s push against immigration and in support of white minorities in countries such as South Africa, according to sources with knowledge of the grant process.

“These awards have been briefed at the highest levels of the department and have buy-in from the White House,” said a person familiar with the discussions.

Among the other awards, a $1 million grant titled “Countering Lawfare and Censorship in Brazil” would fund civil society groups opposing what the document calls judicial overreach and censorship by Brazil’s supreme court. The Trump administration sanctioned Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes last year after lobbying by Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of the former president.

A $2 million program titled “Promoting Western Civilization Allies” would be limited to implementers who do not subscribe to “ideologically weaponized accounts of human rights, such as gender ideology,” and names possible recipients in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and the Balkans with “anti-communist” and “natural rights” approaches.

Another award would document “democratic backsliding” in Europe tied to “mass and illegal migration” and legislation by “supra-national entities,” while a $1 million journalism consortium would push back against designations of “trusted” media outlets.

The list also includes $2 million for early-warning networks protecting Christians in Nigeria and a $3 million no-bid award to the Jobs Foundation, a UK group run by Matthew Elliott, who led the Vote Leave campaign. That grant, titled “Countering Overregulation to Advance American Investment,” would promote a “common good capitalism index” and pro-business policy, including how the foundation promoted Brexit as an opportunity to cut the UK’s climate regulations.

A proposed $5 million no-bid grant to the Free Speech Union, the British group founded by Toby Young, has been marked “withdrawn.” When the award was first reported in July, Young said the group had never applied for or received U.S. government money, though Trump officials had reportedly met with the group during a European tour late last year.

The Guardian first reported in July that Trump officials had drawn up no-bid grants aimed at right-wing and anti-immigration causes in Europe.

Related: State Department · Marco Rubio