--- title: Hillary Clinton Speech: She Warns of Cuts to Foreign Aid description: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that President Trump is making a "grave mistake" in proposed budget cuts to foreign aid. canonical: https://time.com/4720792/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-women-diplomacy/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-31T15:24:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:08:46.932Z article:section: Politics og:title: Clinton Warns Trump of 'Grave Mistake' on Foreign Aid og:description: "Turning our back on diplomacy won't make our country safer." og:url: https://time.com/4720792/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-women-diplomacy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cb74b17ded1f0af/6988c0caab6d7741986ad6e6/hillary-clinton1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Hillary Clinton og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Clinton Warns Trump of 'Grave Mistake' on Foreign Aid twitter:description: "Turning our back on diplomacy won't make our country safer." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cb74b17ded1f0af/6988c0caab6d7741986ad6e6/hillary-clinton1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Warns President Trump of 'Grave Mistake' on Foreign Aid > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 31, 2017 3:24 PM UTC  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at Georgetown University in Washington on March 31, 2017. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at Georgetown University in Washington on March 31, 2017. Susan Walsh—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 31, 2017 3:24 PM UTC Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that she thinks President Trump is making a “grave mistake” on foreign aid. In a speech on women’s rights [at Georgetown University](http://time.com/4718996/hillary-clinton-georgetown-university-speech-watch-live/) Friday, Clinton said Trump’s proposed cuts to international aid in his budget would undermine American diplomacy. “We are seeing signals of a shift that should alarm us all,” Clinton said. “This Administration’s proposed cuts to international health, development and diplomacy would be a blow to women and children and a grave mistake for our country.” “Turning our back on diplomacy won’t make our country safer,” she continued. “It will undermine our security and our standing in our world.” Trump proposed a 28 percent cut for U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid next year, including reducing funding for the United Nations, climate change and cultural exchange programs, [Reuters reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-state-idUSKBN16N0DQ). Later in her talk, Clinton took another, more lighthearted swipe at the Trump Administration. “Women are not inherently more peaceful than men. That is a stereotype. That belongs in the alternative reality,” she said, emphasizing “alternative” and seeming to reference Trump aide Kellyanne Conway’s now-famous “[alternative facts](http://time.com/4642689/kellyanne-conway-sean-spicer-donald-trump-alternative-facts/?iid=sr-link1)” defense. Clinton’s comments about Trump came in a talk that was largely an impassioned call for advancing women’s rights around the world. “Advancing the rights and full participation of women and girls is the great unfinished business of the 21st century, she said. “It is not a partisan issue, it is a human issue. 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