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.

Allies are struggling to save part of their security funding from the 90-day freeze ordered by President Trump, who also paused federal grants and loans inside the U.S.

International aid groups warned that the Trump administration’s “stop work order” on foreign assistance risks both lives and American influence across Africa, where US aid funds everything from military exercises to local hospitals.