Aid experts have denounced the US’s “embarrassing” and “pitiful” initial response to the Nepal flood disaster after the US state department announced it was releasing $500,000 in emergency funds to help the relief effort.
The modest sum – which has since been increased – allocated in response to the devastation caused by mudslides in the mountainous Asian country was mocked on social media , where users contrasted it with the amount spent on other Trump administration priorities.
Related: How the deadly Nepal and Tibet flash flood unfolded – a visual guide
The death toll from last week’s flash floods has passed 1,000 , with 4,400 people still unaccounted, according to officials in Nepal and China. Rescue teams are trying to find workers trapped in hydropower tunnels, which were buried in mud.
The US contribution has been upped to $3.6m, which state department officials say will be used to deliver food assistance to feed 10,000 affected households for up to three months, and pay for emergency items such as blankets, mosquito nets and shelter sheets.
However, seasoned humanitarian aid specialists suggest even that contribution is inadequate and say the US response has shrunk to a shadow of its previous capacity by the dismantling of USAID, the country’s main foreign assistance organization, after Donald Trump’s return to the White House last year.
The organization’s functions were taken over by the state department after USAID was terminated as an independent agency in July 2025 after being dismantled by the unofficial “department of government efficiency”, spearheaded by Elon Musk.
The state department says the US continues to support Nepal’s flood early warning system through grants.
However, foreign aid specialists highlighted the initial $500,000 sum as symbolic of the inadequacy of current US efforts compared to what would have been offered before USAID was dissolved. The state department has countered by saying it was “was designed to get immediate assistance moving while assessments were under way” and insisted the dismantling of USAID had “not slowed the US response”.
Mark Ward , a former head of USAID’s disaster response team, who was nicknamed “Mr Disaster” by President George HW Bush because of his prominent role in relief efforts, called the announcement “embarrassing for the United States and a bit of a slap at Nepal”.
Under USAID, Ward said, the amount would have been decided by a disaster assistance response team, which would have been on the ground immediately to assess needs because of the close working relationship the agency had with Nepal, a known natural disaster zone.
“They would have done an assessment very quickly with the Nepalese authorities, and then we would have decided on a number,” said Ward. “I’m sure it would have been a lot more than the figure that we’ve seen.”
His sentiments were echoed by George Ingram , a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former staff member of the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee.
“I was embarrassed for America,” he said. “It would have been better for them not to announce it.
“It’s too early to know what the total magnitude of the US assistance should be, but an initial offering of half a million dollars is pitiful. I do not recall a major disaster like this in which the US initial reaction was such a paltry amount.
“They should have said nothing focused on saying we need to figure out what the needs are.”
After news of floods broke last week, Karoline Leavitt, the outgoing White House press secretary, said the US embassy in Nepal was “in close contact with local authorities on the ground”.
“We’ve offered our help and assistance but of course, the first priority for this president and for Secretary Rubio will always be Americans,” she told Fox News. “We’re focused on rescuing every American that we possibly can.”
Ward, who worked on previous disasters in Nepal, said it was the country that the USAID had the closest relationship with because of its susceptibility to earthquakes and other natural catastrophes with humanitarian consequences.
“There was no country that we had a better relationship with than Nepal in their disaster management capacity, for the simple reason that nobody has more disasters than Nepal because of its topography,” he said. “We always had disaster experts there on our staff working with these guys, getting them ready for the next disaster, and they’re obviously gone now, with the dismantling of USAID.”
Current relief efforts are now being led by Nepal’s neighbors, India and China, said Ward, who argued that the US decision to skimp on foreign aid was a false economy.
“Is it really in the interest of the United States to have China and India in the lead?” he said. “The United States is safer when the world is more stable.
“If the world is unstable, there are more refugees trying to cross borders, and eventually, maybe ours. Maybe American troops have to deploy. So dealing with natural and man-made disasters before they get out of hand is in the interests of the United States, and it’s dirt cheap compared to the kinds of money you need to respond to a civil war, an insurrection or a refugee crisis.”
A state department spokesperson defended the US response as “fast, flexible, and driven by conditions on the ground – not arbitrary funding targets”.
“This is a needs-based, adaptive model that allows the United States to get assistance out the door immediately rather than delay action while waiting for a complete picture of a rapidly evolving disaster,” the spokesperson said. “The result is tangible assistance reaching affected Nepalis now.
“The United States is continuing to assess the situation and will adjust its response as circumstances warrant.”
The modest sum – which has since been increased – allocated in response to the devastation caused by mudslides in the mountainous Asian country was mocked on social media , where users contrasted it with the amount spent on other Trump administration priorities.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Robert Tait in Washington. Published 2 Sept 2026, 10:00 am.
