By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Work is ongoing to shut down the U.S. foreign aid agency USAID, Elon Musk, who is heading President Donald Trump’s drive to shrink governance costs, said while presenting an update on Monday.
Musk had been appointed by President Trump to lead a federal cost-cutting panel.
Musk, also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, discussed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a social media interaction on Monday on his platform, X.
The conversation, which included former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Republican Senators Joni Ernst and Mike Lee, began with Musk saying they were working to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“It’s beyond repair,” Musk said, adding that President Trump agrees the world’s largest single donor should be shut down.
The Trump administration had removed two top security officials at USAID over the weekend after sources claimed they had tried to stop representatives from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from gaining access to restricted parts of the building.
In the fiscal year 2023, the U.S., through USAID, disbursed $72 billion in assistance worldwide for various intervention projects, including women’s health in conflict zones, access to clean water, HIV/AIDS treatments, energy security, and anti-corruption work.
It provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.
The website of USAID, with over 10,000 staff members, was reported to be offline on Saturday and Sunday.
Trump has ordered a global freeze on most U.S. foreign aid as part of his “America First” policy, which is already sending shockwaves around the world.
Speaking more broadly about cutting U.S. expenses and fraud, Musk estimated the Trump administration could cut $1 trillion from the U.S. deficit next year.
He asserted, for example, that “professional foreign fraud rings” are stealing vast sums by masquerading as or creating fake digital U.S. citizens—without providing evidence.
Musk has Trump’s support. Asked on Sunday if Musk was doing a good job, Trump agreed. “He’s a big cost-cutter. Sometimes we won’t agree with it, and we’ll not go where he wants to go. But I think he’s doing a great job. He’s a smart guy. Very smart. And he’s very much into cutting the budget of our federal budget.”
