Placed under special administration, it is now headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Tesla's boss: "The decision has been made, the facility will have to close." The move is part of the administration's cost-cutting efforts.
Elon Musk wants to dismantle USAID , the American agency established in 1961 by John Fitzgerald Kennedy and which has become the world's largest machine for civil aid and development assistance abroad , as part of the cost-cutting measures entrusted to him by Donald Trump. The agency has been placed under special administration, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio taking over its interim management, putting a political hat on an independent structure and thus also avoiding any controls.
In 2023, USAID disbursed $72 billion
The same happened to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the independent agency that protects consumers, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent taking over the temporary leadership after the dismissal of director Rohit Chopra. In fiscal year 2023 alone, USAID had disbursed $72 billion across the globe - for interventions such as those in favor of women's health in conflict zones, access to clean water, HIV/AIDS treatment, energy security or anti-corruption activities, providing 42% of all humanitarian aid monitored by the UN in 2024.
Intelligence and Humanitarian Aid
Even the agency, which has a staff of ten thousand people, risks paying for the America First policy, which led the president to freeze all American foreign aid to realign it with the priorities of his agenda. In history, the agency has also countered the global influence of the Soviet Union, then Russia, and collected useful information for American intelligence in various dictatorships, guaranteeing aid to combat poverty and provide assistance in the event of natural disasters and humanitarian crises.
Washington Headquarters Closed Without Notice on Monday
The first strong signal of the Trump administration’s intentions came on Monday with the closure of the agency’s headquarters in Washington. When employees arrived, they found yellow police tape at the entrances reading “do no cross”; the building had been closed without warning, and employees were told by email to work from home pending “further guidance.” Logos and photos of USAID’s work were removed from the building’s walls, and its website and social media accounts were blacked out, replaced with a stripped-down version of its online page on the State Department’s website.
Agency official: "Apocalypse"
"It's the apocalypse at USAID," one official said. Musk himself confirmed his intention to end the agency in a conversation on X with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Republican senators Joni Ernst and Mike Lee. "It's time to close it down," said the Tesla boss, who was appointed by Trump to lead Doge, the new Department for Government Efficiency that will have to cut federal spending and promote radical deregulation. "As for the USAID issue, I spoke in detail with the president and he said he agreed with me," added the Tesla boss.
Trump: "Musk a great cost cutter"
Trump did not deny it, although he did put a bit of a damper on it: "He's a great cost cutter. Sometimes we disagree and we don't go where he wants to go. But I think he's doing a great job," the president commented, adding that in any case "he can't make decisions without my approval."
Usaid run by left-wing lunatics"
"USAID, he later accused, "is run by a bunch of crazy, radical left-wing extremists." "We'll get them out and then we'll make a decision," he threatened. In the meantime, Musk is infiltrating every vital part of the administration, from the Treasury payment system to the Office of Personnel Management to USAID, where two top officials were fired for trying to deny access to some of its representatives. And he has promised to cut $1 trillion from the US deficit next year. The dismantling of USAID would be part of this goal: at risk are programs such as field hospitals in Thai refugee camps, the clearance of landmines in war zones and the supply of drugs to treat millions of people suffering from diseases such as HIV.
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