Musk states that he wants to shut down USAID — what it means

American entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk, who was appointed by the President Donald Trump to be the Head of the Department of Government Efficiency, said he was working to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He assured that the Head of the White House agrees with him.

Reuters reported it on Monday, February 3.

Musk wants to shut down USAID

Musk said that USAID’s work was "beyond repair", and Donald Trump allegedly agreed with it.

The President of the United States, commenting on Musk’s work to cut costs, said that he was doing a good job.

"He’s cutting costs a lot. Sometimes we don’t agree with him and we don’t go where he wants to go. But I think he’s doing a great job. He’s a smart guy, very smart. And he is very interested in reducing our federal budget," Trump emphasized.

What USAID is

The United States Agency for International Development (more commonly known as USAID) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for managing civilian foreign aid and development assistance.

It has been one of the largest official aid agencies in the world with a budget of over $50 billion and provides more than half of all US foreign aid. This is the largest aid in the world in absolute financial terms.

Earlier, we wrote that Musk blocked the USAID account on X. Earlier, Musk publicly expressed his critical position on USAID’s activities, accusing it of funding biological weapons research. 

As a reminder, Musk has publicly expressed harsh criticism of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), accusing it of involvement in funding the development of COVID-19.