Trump, Musk Take Steps to Shut Down USAID

President Donald Trump and Government Efficiency lead Elon Musk are taking steps to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and move what’s left under State Department operations.

The Details: The agency’s funding has been frozen and dozens of employees have been placed on leave. Reuters (Center bias) first reported the developments on January 31, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Musk said in an X Spaces conversation early on February 3, “With regards to the USAID stuff, I went over it with (the president) in detail and he agreed that we should shut it down.”

For Context: CNN (Lean Left) describes the USAID as “a key soft power tool of the US to foster relations with communities around the world.” 2024 has not been fully reported yet, but according to the U.S. government, USAID committed to $42 billion of foreign aid in both 2022 and 2023. Ukraine was the largest receiver of USAID funds in 2022 and 2023 by a very large margin. Over the years, left-wing critics have accused the USAID of attempting to coup foreign governments under the guise of humanitarianism. Russia banned the agency in 2012.

How The Media Covered It: Lean Left outlets often explained the humanitarian causes of USAID and pushback from officials against shutting it down. Outlets on the right often highlighted that Trump and Musk have accused the USAID of advancing the agenda of the Democratic Party. ZeroHedge (Lean Right) claimed the USAID has a history of “flooding taxpayer dollars into shady NGOs.” UnHerd (Center bias) described Trump’s ambitions to end the USAID as “America First in action.”

X Discourse: The story has been one of the most widely discussed on X where anti-establishment voices across the spectrum criticized the agency's existence and uses. Glenn Greenwald (Center bias) called the USAID a “CIA front” that benefits “DC elites and nobody else.”