The Trump administration has instructed its diplomats to push countries to sign a "trade over aid" declaration at the United Nations, part of a broader effort to overhaul how the U.S. distributes billions in foreign aid.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered U.S. diplomats to issue an official call to action to foreign governments no later than Monday, seeking their backing before the initiative is introduced at the U.N. later this month, The Washington Post reported Thursday, citing a cable sent Wednesday to U.S. embassies and consular posts.

Rubio's directive stresses the "trade over aid" push is a chance to use the U.N. to "promote America First values and create business opportunities for U.S. companies," the Post reported after reviewing a copy of the cable.

The cable reflects a broader shift in U.S. foreign aid since President Donald Trump began his second term. Trump has moved aggressively to reshape U.S. foreign assistance, freezing funding, scaling back much of the U.S. Agency for International Development and slashing programs in favor of an "America First" approach that prioritizes strategic and economic interests.

The administration has shifted away from traditional humanitarian assistance and efforts by nongovernmental organizations. It has instead emphasized government-to-government deals and private-sector investment, while advancing a "trade over aid" doctrine that prioritizes market development over direct aid.

"The idea that trade and free market capitalism is the surest path to prosperity has been proven by the facts and by history," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement to Newsmax. "We have been clear that prosperity and partnership are our goals. The U.S. remains the most generous country in the history of the world, but those arguing for 'aid not trade' are really arguing for lining the pockets of a corrupt NGO industrial complex."

Rubio's cable includes talking points for U.S. diplomats to help make the administration's case. It begins with, "Under President Trump, America has entered a new Golden Age built on a booming economy fueled by pro-business policies: deregulation, lower taxes, and a liberated energy industry," according to the Post.

A separate State Department official told Newsmax the initiative is intended to connect developing nations with U.S. investment and technical expertise and to highlight countries that have advanced through free-market reforms. The official added that the U.S. will continue funding lifesaving humanitarian programs while seeking to make aid more efficient.

Although much of the cable promotes free-market principles, it also takes aim at the global aid system, which it asserts "has often created dependency, inefficiency, and corruption."

"It was private business that developed all the world's successful economies, not government aid," the declaration states, according to the Post.

The cable states that the U.S. Mission to the U.N. will hold a signing event for the declaration before the end of April.

Mike Waltz, the U.S. representative to the U.N., previewed the effort Tuesday during an appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"On the development side, we are heavily engaging the private sector," Waltz told lawmakers, according to the Post. "Let's lower barriers to capital, drive foreign investment and create jobs, not dependency, and we're calling that trade over aid."

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