Topline
Billionaire Elon Musk said early Monday that President Donald Trump agreed to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—which he cannot legally unilaterally do —as the foreign aid agency has become embroiled in partisan controversy thanks to right-wing claims it supported “radical” causes that remain unsupported or debunked.
Key Facts
Musk said on an X Spaces conversation early Monday he “went over” the “USAID stuff” with Trump and “[the president] agreed that we should shut it down,” after Trump told reporters Sunday about USAID, “It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out, and then we’ll make a decision [about its future].”
USAID is the primary federal agency providing foreign aid to countries around the world, and has been under siege by the Trump administration in recent days amid rumors Trump wants to move it under the State Department, with staff being cut, its website shut down and Trump freezing nearly all foreign aid, while staffers from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) already accessing and scrutinizing the agency’s classified data.
Musk and other Trump officials have claimed USAID is staffed by Democrats and supports left-wing causes, with Musk repeatedly criticizing the agency on social media and claiming in his X Spaces conversation Monday the agency is “incredibly politically partisan” and has supported “radically left causes throughout the world including things that are anti-American.”
Trump advisor Stephen Miller also claimed on CNN that “98%” of the agency’s staff donated to former Vice President Kamala Harris or other Democratic candidates in the November election, while Trump’s envoy for special missions Richard Grenell claimed former USAID head Samantha Power “used [taxpayer] money to fund crazy radical programs and far Left activists” and State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce posted a thread of what she called “unjustified” foreign aid spending.
Neither the claims of USAID staffers donating to Democrats or “radical” funding have proven true, and other GOP claims also have been debunked, such as the Trump administration’s claim the agency sent $50 million worth of condoms to Gaza.
Why Is Usaid Controversial With Trump, Musk And Other Republicans?
The agency has funded groups on issues that Republicans and the Trump administration now deem to be controversial, noting a focus on “equity and inclusion” and LGBTQ rights initiatives in its 2024 annual report. The Trump administration has taken a hardline stance against “DEI” programs and transgender rights initiatives and sought to eliminate them from the federal government. USAID said it also worked with dozens of countries on climate change mitigation efforts last year and mobilized $16.7 billion in outside funding on climate change, while Trump has broadly tried to cut Biden-era climate programs and get rid of government programs on renewable energy.
Did Usaid Fund Covid 19 “lab Leak”?
A charge that’s been leveled at USAID, which Musk amplified Monday, is that the agency sent funds to EcoHealth Alliance, a medical research group that’s been targeted by proponents of the theory that COVID 19 originated in a lab in Wuhan, China. USAID has given EcoHealth Alliance funding, with the health organization noting on its website the agency established an “Emerging Pandemic Threats” program that seeks to identify emerging diseases that could spread from animals to humans. While the National Institutes of Health has previously raised some concerns with EcoHealth Alliance for failing to properly disclose information, there’s no evidence linking the group’s work to the COVID 19 pandemic. Robert Kessler, a spokesperson for the organization, told The New York Times in 2021 that none of the viruses EcoHealth has studied are similar enough to the virus behind COVID-19 to suggest they played a role in the virus’ origins.
Did Usaid Spend $50 Million On Condoms In Gaza?
No. Trump and his administration have claimed the Biden administration spent $50 million on “condoms in Gaza,” with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling the expenditure a “preposterous waste of taxpayer money” and using it to justify the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid. Trump even ramped up the accuations Monday, telling reporters Musk had found evidence of $100 million worth of condoms going to Hamas. There is no evidence to support the White House’s claims. The Washington Post notes the Biden-era State Department signed a $50 million deal for healthcare in Gaza but that did not include supplying any condoms, and while USAID did send $60.8 million in contraception and condoms to other countries in fiscal year 2023, none of those shipments were sent to Gaza. The first Trump administration also sent contraception and condoms abroad through USAID, the News Literacy Project first noted, sending $51.5 million worth of contraceptives in 2018 and $39.1 million in 2019.
What Does Usaid Spend Its Funds On?
USAID spent more than $43 billion in fiscal year 2023 providing aid to approximately 130 countries, according to the Congressional Research Service. The biggest recipient of USAID’s funding has been Ukraine, which CRS noted has received more than $46 billion since its war with Russia began in February 2022, followed by Ethiopia, Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria. The agency’s mission has consistently received bipartisan support in the past, and The Washington Post noted in 2017 military leaders also view the agency as essential because it helps to prevent foreign wars that the U.S. could otherwise have to step in to help with. USAID provides funding to combat issues like poverty and disease, as well as provides strategic assistance for foreign conflicts and supports developing countries’ economic growth. Former officials with the agency have suggested cuts to its funding will impact ongoing issues like international Ebola outbreaks, the bird flu epidemic and worldwide HIV treatment and prevention.
Has Usaid Done Anything Wrong?
Trump officials and Musk’s concerns about USAID are primarily based on partisan concerns, rather than any actual wrongdoing by the agency. The Office of the Inspector General that oversees USAID has said in recent reports the agency does have some room for improvement, citing issues with ensuring the United Nations and other organizations inform USAID of any misconduct within the groups its funding, failures by the UN and other groups to provide the inspector general’s office with information to help its investigations, and jurisdiction issues making it hard for USAID to sue any foreign organizations that misuse its funds. The inspector general also argued USAID needs a better system to identify whether the groups it’s funding have any ties to terrorist groups or “corrupt actors,” after House Republicans expressed concern in 2023 that the agency’s humanitarian aid being sent to Gaza could be sent to groups with ties to Hamas.
Did Usaid Fund Al-Qaida-Affiliated Terrorist Groups?
No—a non-governmental organization allegedly stole from USAID. Federal prosecutors, including USAID’s inspector general’s office, brought criminal charges in November against a Syrian national who allegedly diverted $9 million from a $122 million USAID humanitarian aid program meant to combat hunger in Syria but was sent to combatant groups aligned with al-Qaida.
Surprising Fact
Anonymous USAID officials cited by PBS News report while the Trump administration is now reportedly targeting officials at USAID who work on gender-focused programs, much of that work originated during the first Trump administration, when Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump created a Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.
Tangent
Musk’s attacks on USAID have been praised by the Russian government, with deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev—a former Russian president and ally of current President Vladimir Putin—saying on X Monday, “Smart move by @elonmusk, trying to plug USAID’s Deep Throat.”
Can Trump Get Rid Of Usaid?
It remains to be seen what actions Trump will take on USAID, but since Congress passed a federal statute declaring it an independent agency, the president can’t unilaterally close it or move it to be under the State Department. That isn’t to say Trump could still try to close it himself anyway, however—regardless of whether doing so would be legal—though that’s likely to result in lawsuits from humanitarian groups or Democratic lawmakers. Some anonymous USAID officials suggested to Politico Trump could try to intentionally keep any orders he issues on the agency “vague” in order to avoid accusations that he’s unlawfully shuttering it without congressional approval.
Key Background
USAID has emerged as one of Trump and his officials’ biggest targets in the early days of his second term, with the president and Musk attacking the agency as critics had already feared Trump would try to get rid of government agencies if elected. The attacks on USAID come after Trump reportedly previously tried to move the agency to be under the State Department during his first term, which Politico notes ultimately failed due to bipartisan opposition to the move. Trump and his administration have issued a slew of orders in the first weeks of Trump’s presidency seeking to reshape the federal government to be in line with his ideological goals, and the freeze on foreign aid came right before the Trump administration tried to halt nearly all federal assistance—a move that it soon had to walk back, and was later blocked in court. Trump has sought to pause federal spending in order to conduct “reviews” of whether money is going to causes he supports, even when those funds have already been approved by Congress, which Democrats warn he doesn’t have the authority to do.
Further Reading
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