Could Trump's presidency end US aid to Middle East?

Donald Trump's White House victory this week is likely the first time people have hoped a presidential candidate would not follow through on his election promises.

Banning Muslims from entering the United States, building a wall on the Mexico border and the total repeal of Obamacare are just some of the pledges he made to supporters.

Another was to "stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us".

Campaigners have raised fears Trump's presidency could mark the end of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) - the world's largest donor of overseas humanitarian and development funding.

"It's my instinct to think that there is potentially a danger that USAID could be abolished or diminished and folded into the State Department," Alex Thier, formerly a senior USAID official under Obama, told The Guardian.

"Foreign aid has always been unpopular in the US, but Trump is as populist and right wing as you can get," said Nadia Naviwala, a former USAID desk officer and country representative in Pakistan for the United States Institute of Peace.

"It will be hard for USAID to convince him that taxpayer money should be spent on fixing foreign countries."

For the Middle East, where money provides life-saving assistance to the displaced millions, ensure clean water and helps build schools and health facilities, an abolition of USAID or a severe tightening of the purse strings could have an enormous impact.

According to USAID's website, the direct impact of its programmes have been:

• In Egypt, 1.5 million girls improved their reading and comprehension skills through an early grade reading programme
• Improved efficiency and sustainability of public water plants in Lebanon have provided reliable access to drinking water for more than 1.5 million people
• Palestinian farmers increased exports by $23 billion by improving standards and encouraging innovation for global competitiveness
• The introduction of solar technology water pumps enabled around 120 orchards in Syria to be irrigated

The strength of the agency not only ensures support for the world's most vulnerable, but improves the success of US foreign policy, Thier said.

Development programmes tackle underlying issues such as exclusion, unemployment and inequality.

These are, after all, many of the issues that motivated the US electorate on Tuesday, he added.