Elon Musk Says He and Trump Are Closing Down USAID

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has stated that he and President Donald Trump are in the process of shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Musk, who heads Trump’s government efficiency initiative, made the announcement on his social media platform, X.

“We’re shutting it down,” he said. At another point, he said “We’re in the process” of “shutting down USAID.”

He further said the idea had “the full support of the president” and that he had spoken with Trump on the matter several times.

“With regard to the USAID stuff, I went over [it] with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down,” he said. “I actually checked with him a few times [and] said, ‘Are you sure?’” he said. He said that Trump responded, “Yes.”

On Sunday, Trump praised Elon Musk, stating that Musk “is doing a good job” and criticized the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as “run by a bunch of radical lunatics.” However, Trump did not explicitly say whether he planned to shut down the agency, with or without congressional approval.

Trump administration officials have discussed placing USAID under the authority of the State Department, according to over a dozen current and former officials and sources familiar with the discussions, as reported by NBC News.

This proposal has faced criticism from Democratic lawmakers and legal experts, who argue that it would violate a law passed by Congress that established the agency.

Trump has also announced that he is freezing virtually all U.S. foreign assistance pending a 90-day review.

Congress annually appropriates funding for USAID, primarily for foreign aid and international charities. The agency’s budget for the 2023 fiscal year was around $40 billion, according to a report last month from the Congressional Research Service.

USAID was created by executive order under President John F. Kennedy in 1961, following Congress’s passage of a reorganization of foreign assistance.