The East-West Center is bracing for impact from potential elimination of federal government support under President Donald Trump’s plan to cut the State Department’s funding by half next fiscal year.
According to an internal memo first reported by The New York Times, the State Department will request a $28.4 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 — $26 billion less than what was on the books for fiscal year 2025.
The East-West Center receives $22 million a year, about 52% of its total budget, from the federal government.
The plan is to eliminate nearly all funding for international organizations like the United Nations and NATO, “ending the budget for supporting international peacekeeping operations and curtailing all of the department’s educational and cultural exchanges, like the
Fulbright Program,” the Times reported.
The East-West Center initially opened as a University of Hawaii at Manoa faculty initiative in 1959, before Congress set it up in 1960 to bolster American academic, cultural and political ties with nations throughout Asia and the Pacific through exchanges and research. It will celebrate its 65th anniversary May 14.
The center had been without federal funds for weeks after Trump took office and had to rely on its
reserves to stay open, although a $5 million funding allotment was released to it March 13. It has received the last of its expected
federal funds under a previous short-term spending agreement.
The center’s appropriation was preserved at
$22 million for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends Sept.30.
It’s too soon for the East-West Center to comment on its status since the White House has not yet released its actual budget request for fiscal year 2026, read a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
James K. Scott, interim president of the East-West Center, told the Star-Advertiser that officials are thankful to have recently received payment of federal funds that had been delayed, and also that the budget appropriation was preserved in a new continuing resolution passed to fund the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year.
“But we remain vigilant in assessing potential risks that could affect our ability to fulfill our mission and are continuing proactive measures to suspend nonessential expenditures until our long-term funding is clearer,” said Scott. “I continue to be inspired by the dedication and resilience of our EWC community, and as always, the Center remains committed to our statutory mission of promoting better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific.”
Several programs that the center implements under State Department or other federal contracts have been placed on hold pending
review.
The East-West Center’s alumni and donors have stepped up amid the budget uncertainty, committing more than $530,000 for student and participant scholarships over a four-week period in February and March.
Private donors also stepped forward to make it possible for the center to hold its annual, student-led East-West Fest cultural
celebration Sunday.
About a thousand community members visited the center to enjoy cultural booths and games, music, dance and more presented by EWC students and
performing groups from
dozens from countries.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, told The New York Times that “recent reports about the administration’s plan to gut State Department personnel, U.S. presence overseas and foreign assistance are deeply troubling. These cuts don’t make America safer, they risk our security.”
Schatz told the Star-Advertiser that “Congress holds the purse strings, not the president.”
“As the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, I will continue working with my colleagues to protect funding that strengthens our national security and improves regional cooperation — efforts that the East-West Center continues to play an increasingly important role in,” said Schatz.
U.S. Sen. Mazie K. Hirono told the Star-Advertiser that for more than 60 years, “the East-West Center has carried out crucial research and programming to help strengthen U.S. relations with countries throughout the Indo-Pacific.”
“As our country works to counter threats and advance a free and open Indo-Pacific, the efforts of the East-West Center are essential to U.S. diplomacy in the region,” said Hirono. “By recklessly cutting federal funding the Center relies on, Trump’s proposal will have serious negative consequences
for our state, our national security, and our allies and partners.”
The East-West Center occupies a 21-acre Honolulu campus next to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. It is a nonprofit organization funded by the federal government, private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations and governments in the Asia-Pacific
region.
The center has built a worldwide network of more than 70,000 alumni and 1,100 partner organizations, according to its
website.
Over the weekend, the center hosted a delegation of ministers and members of parliament from New Zealand, including Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, who “spoke on relations with the U.S. and his country’s cultural and other
connections to Hawaii,”
according to the center.
Peters told Radio New Zealand on Monday that New Zealand’s “Pacific links with the United States are more important than ever.”
“New Zealand’s partnership with the United States remains one of our most long-standing and important, particularly when seen in the light of our joint interests in the Pacific and the evolving security environment,” he told RNZ.
Peters’ delegation “of cross-party MPs (members of parliament)” who met with officials at the East-West
Center is scheduled to be in Fiji and Vanuatu this week.
Peters said the stop in
Honolulu allowed for an exchange of ideas and the role New Zealand can play in working with regional
partners.
“We have long advocated for the importance of an active and engaged United States in the Indo-Pacific, and this time in Honolulu allowed us to continue to make that case,” said Peters.
He said the delegation met with Gov. Josh Green (at their consul’s residence), who confirmed with him that New Zealand is approaching President Donald Trump in the proper way. “The fact is, this is a massively Democrat state. But nevertheless, they deal with Washington very, very well, and privately, we have got an inside confirmation that our approach is right. Be very careful, these things are very important, words matter, and be ultracautious. All those things were confirmed by the governor.”
