King Questions Africa Commander on How America’s Reduction in Soft Power is Feeding an Expansion of Terrorism

May 15, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), questioned a top military general on the reduction of non-military power in Africa and the impact that has had on the expansion of global terrorism. In his exchange with United States Air Force General Dagvin Anderson, Commander of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) in a hearing centered on the Department’s Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2027, King argued that the cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have contributed to a resurgence of Al-Qaeda and ISIS affiliates intent on attacking the American homeland.
General Anderson testified that the African continent “has become the center of gravity for global jihadism, with West Africa accounting for over 51 percent of global terror-related deaths in 2024.” He is not alone in raising issues. The Council for Foreign Relations addressed this rise in terrorism and acknowledges that the removal of soft power instruments USAID in the Sahel region created a vacuum in which violent extremism can expand – including groups like Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), and the Islamic State in the West African Province (ISWAP).
Senator King began , “General Anderson, talk to me about the loss of soft power in Africa, our abandonment of USAID and what has happened with the Chinese and Russians that, my understanding is, are now filling that gap in addition to the other aggressive actions they are taking?”
“ Senator, I would say that we look at all facets of national power and how to bring those to bear on the continent to provide a security outcomes,” General Anderson replied.
Senator King then followed up, “I think one facet of our national power off the table, unilaterally, for no apparent reason. The whim of Elon Musk.” “Senator, we work very closely with the state, commerce, and energy in order to look at the security requirements on the continent,” General Anderson replied. “I have a foreign service commercial officer joining staff this summer along with a liaison from Department of Energy.”
Senator King asked again for a straight answer, “ It is a fact is it not that we have essentially left all of the role that USAID played on the continent. That's gone? That’s a yes or no question.”
“ Senator, there are still aid programs that are active on the continent,” General Anderson said. “ They are much reduced from what they were before.”
“ Much reduced. That is a fair way of stating it,” Senator King quipped. “You mentioned earlier that the Al Qaeda and ISIS have resurged in Africa. The term epicenter has been used several times of world terrorism. You said they have the will and intent to attack the homeland. My question is, do they have the capacity? Are they developing weapons, strategies, other ways to take that will and intent and turn it into something of imminent danger to the American people?”
General Anderson concluded in agreement , “Senator, that is the exact issue that's my top concern.”
As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator King has spoken on the Senator Floor several times to discuss the critical importance of USAID. He has also joined his colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, expressing their deep concern regarding the growing chaos at the U.S. Department of State and the Trump Administration’s attempt to abolish USAID.
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