In February, the ambassadors to the United States of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau met with U.S. officials to raise concerns about the rush of executive actions since U.S. President Donald Trump took office for a second term. Among their worries was a freeze on U.S. foreign assistance, including programs administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

As in other parts of the world, the Trump administration’s furious dismantling of USAID disrupted projects and canceled contracts in these island nations. But the United States has a special obligation to help manage disaster relief to these three countries, known collectively as the Freely Associated States. When the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) pulled apart USAID, it also jeopardized U.S. commitments under the Compacts of Free Association, or COFAs, which govern the United States’ unique relationship with these countries.

In February, the ambassadors to the United States of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau met with U.S. officials to raise concerns about the rush of executive actions since U.S. President Donald Trump took office for a second term. Among their worries was a freeze on U.S. foreign assistance, including programs administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

As in other parts of the world, the Trump administration’s furious dismantling of USAID disrupted projects and canceled contracts in these island nations. But the United States has a special obligation to help manage disaster relief to these three countries, known collectively as the Freely Associated States. When the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) pulled apart USAID, it also jeopardized U.S. commitments under the Compacts of Free Association, or COFAs, which govern the United States’ unique relationship with these countries.

Under the COFAs, which first took effect in 1986 for the Marshall Islands and Micronesia and 1994 for Palau, the United States agrees to defend the three states and provide essential economic assistance and government services. In return, it gets unfettered military access to the territorial land, sea, and air of the island chains, an area comparable to the size of the continental United States.

“It is this uninterrupted corridor from Hawaii to the Philippines that becomes a region of incredible U.S. strategic advantage,” said Brian Harding, an expert on Southeast Asia and the........

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