Patients and health care advocates said the abrupt decision to halt U.S. funding for a lifesaving H.I.V. program led to widespread confusion. The backtracking didn’t help.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio backtracked on Trump’s near-total foreign aid freeze and approved potentially billions of dollars in “life-saving humanitarian assistance.” Many aid groups are still unsure what that means.

President Trump’s decision to clean house at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and initially freeze all foreign assistance is fueling chaos and uncertainty in Washington and