"The visitors from Washington included Marcus Thornton, a former Border Patrol agent known for a series of public lawsuits against the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate; Kenneth Jackson, a former oil executive who had done a stint in government under the first Trump administration; and Laken Rapier, who'd previously managed communications for the city of Fort Worth, Texas. This year, all had been appointed to leadership roles in the U.S. Agency for International Development, the premier government humanitarian agency in the world."
"Five months earlier, some of the visiting aides had celebrated USAID's destruction over cake and speeches in Washington. With that job done, they'd embarked on a world tour of half a dozen cities, including the Kenyan capital. They were granted special permission to fly business class "to help ensure maximum rest and comfort," according to an internal memo. Thornton alone received authorization to expense more than $35,000 in taxpayer money for the trip."
On July 18 in Nairobi, a team of President Donald Trump's top foreign aid advisers held a private dinner while staying at the Tribe Hotel. The visitors included Marcus Thornton, Kenneth Jackson, and Laken Rapier, all appointed this year to leadership roles at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Months earlier some aides had celebrated USAID's destruction in Washington and then began a world tour of several cities. The group received special permission to fly business class, and Thornton was authorized to expense more than $35,000. The plan included conducting exit interviews with USAID experts being forced out amid stated austerity. U.S. embassy officials organized the dinner to explain the catastrophic impact of drastic foreign aid cuts. A top concern was the administration's failure to fund the World Food Program's operation in Kenya.
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