The Trump administration must allow the distribution of foreign aid again -- at least temporarily -- unless challenges to the White House's sweeping order is heard in court.

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily lift a three-week funding freeze that has shut down U.S. aid and development programs abroad.

He wrote that there was no explanation "why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid" is needed to review programs. But how funds will start flowing again is unclear.

“We're going to take it. We're going to hold it. We're going to cherish it. We're going to get it going eventually, where a lot of jobs are going to be created for the people in the Middle East,” Trump said, adding that this action will be an “absolute, tremendous asset for the Middle East.”

The judge considers the Trump administration's move to cancel funding for foreign contracts to be "arbitrary and capricious."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has vowed to destroy Mexican cartels and end the U.S. fentanyl epidemic, but his sweeping freeze on foreign aid has temporarily stopped U.S.-funded anti-narcotics programs in Mexico that for years have been working to curb the flow of the synthetic opioid into the United States.

A federal judge late Thursday issued an order compelling the Trump administration to lift its three-week funding freeze on U.S. foreign aid.

The Trump administration’s 90-day freeze on foreign aid has impacted family planning resources used by hundreds of thousands of women, girls and couples abroad, causing a number of health clinics to shut down and hindering the supply chain for contraception.

The programs largely focus on dismantling the drug's supply chain, Reuters reported based on a review of State Department documents