When a team from the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh was finally able to meet with the Cambodian government to discuss USAID’s closure in late June 2025, five months after funding was halted, it was clear that their Cambodian counterparts were not happy. Given the complicated history between the two countries, the relationship had experienced ups and downs. But the abrupt halt of development assistance, with no communication for months, was unprecedented.
According to a former member of the U.S. in-country team, Chris Jones (a pseudonym to preserve anonymity), Cambodian officials mentioned the “challenges” caused to Cambodia’s national development goals when a key donor like USAID pulls its funding. According to one senior Cambodian official who spoke to Jones, the timing was particularly difficult as the loss of such significant funding occurred only two months into the Cambodian fiscal year.
While these statements may seem mild, anyone familiar with the language of diplomacy knows that this is about as real as government representatives get in official meetings. One Cambodian I spoke with, Boreth Sun, an expert with over 30 years of experience in the international development sector, was more blunt. “It is abandonment” of Cambodia by the U.S. “all over again,” he said.
