Donald Trump axes $40billion US foreign aid agency after taking advice from Elon Musk
3 February 2025, 14:04 | Updated: 4 February 2025, 13:18
Donald Trump has shut down USAID - the agency that supports foreign aid - according to Elon Musk.
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Staff at the US Agency for International Development were told to stay away from the agency’s Washington headquarters on Monday after right-wing billionaire Elon Musk announced Donald Trump intended to axe the body.
It received $40billion from Congress every year.
The Tesla and SpaceX chief said: "It became apparent that its not an apple with a worm it in.
"What we have is just a ball of worms. You've got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It's beyond repair.
"We're shutting it down."
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Musk went on to confirm he had spoken to President Trump about the plan, writing: "With regard to the USAID stuff, I went over [it] with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down.
"I checked with him a few times [and] said, 'Are you sure?'" he added.
USAID workers said they tracked 600 employees who reported being locked out of the agency's computer systems overnight.
Those still in the system received emails in the agency system saying that "at the direction of Agency leadership" the headquarters building "will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday February 3".
On Sunday, Mr Musk responded to an X post about the news by saying: "USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die."
"It's been run by a bunch of radical lunatics. And we're getting them out," Mr Trump said to reporters about USAID on Sunday night.
Congress is in charge of determining USAID’s budget, with 2023 seeing the agency given around $40bn to work with.
The move comes after Trump’s administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Musk's government-inspection teams, sources told The Associated Press.
Members of Mr Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, eventually did gain access on Saturday to the aid agency's classified information, which includes intelligence reports, a former official said.
Musk's DOGE crew lacked high enough security clearance to access that information, so the two USAid security officials - John Voorhees and deputy Brian McGill - believed themselves legally obligated to deny access.
