Why Trump, Musk want to shut down USAID: 'Time for it to die'

Carson Swick, Baltimore Sun on Feb 3, 2025

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The U.S. Agency for International Development has become the latest target in President Donald Trump’s push to massively reshape the federal government — and he appears to have some help from the world’s richest man.

In an X/Twitter post Sunday, tech mogul-turned-Department of Government Efficiency advisor Elon Musk called USAID a “criminal organization” and said it was time for the foreign aid agency “to die.”

Musk also claimed Trump “agreed” to shut down USAID during a DOGE X Spaces discussion overnight on Monday. The discussion was also attended by Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican, and Musk’s former DOGE co-leader, Vivek Ramaswamy.

“If you’ve got an apple that’s got a worm in it, maybe you can take the worm out, but if you’ve got actually just a ball of worms, it’s hopeless,” Musk said of USAID during the discussion. “And USAID is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple, you’ve just got to basically get rid of the whole thing.”

USAID administers billions of dollars in humanitarian, development and security assistance to more than 100 countries around the world. Its official website, www.usaid.gov, had gone offline as of 9:15 a.m. Eastern time Monday.

Several congressional Democrats protested Musk’s “illegal shutdown” of USAID and what they call the “far-reaching consequences of the Trump Administration” overall. The members of Congress tried to get into the USAID’s offices but were denied entry.

According to Reuters, the Trump administration has proposed dissolving USAID as an independent agency and absorbing its $42.8 billion annual budget into the U.S. State Department. The outlet reported that plaques bearing the USAID seal were starting to be removed from agency offices on Friday — a sign that the transition could already be underway.

Diplomats and aid officials worry that merging USAID with the State Department could fundamentally alter the agency’s — and by extension the nation’s — role as the world’s largest provider of international humanitarian aid. America’s modern foreign aid prowess dates back at least to the Marshall Plan, an ambitious package designed to prevent the spread of Soviet communism to Western Europe after World War II.

While the White House is exploring Trump’s executive authority to unilaterally dissolve USAID, it is not clear if he can enact the proposed change without congressional approval.

Congressional Democrats, like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have argued that “no one elected” Musk and they “must do everything” in their power to prevent the consolidation of agencies like USAID as supported by the tech mogul.

“As Donald Trump allows Musk to access people’s personal information and shut down government funding, Republicans in Washington will also own the consequences,” Warren posted on X/Twitter. “We must do everything in our power to push back and protect people from harm.”

Rogan O’Handley, a conservative influencer with more than 2 million followers who uses the handle @DC_Draino, pushed back on Warren by arguing Trump’s base voted with knowledge of the role Musk would play in “cleaning out” perceived government corruption.

“Elon was very visible with Trump and we elected Trump to utilize Elon in cleaning out corruption in our government. Same goes for Tulsi (Gabbard), RFK (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), and Kash (Patel),” O’Handley wrote in a post retweeted by Musk. “We voted for ALL of these people to do exactly what they’re doing.”

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