Trump, Musk threaten USAID shut down. Here’s what it is

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The United States Agency for International Development, known as USAID, is facing a possible shutdown on Monday, as part of President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy.

USAID is dedicated to extending assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms, per the U.S. government.

While Trump reportedly said the agency was run by “radical lunatics” on Sunday night, his ally, tech billionaire Elon Musk, called it a “criminal organization” in a post on X on Monday.

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“With regards to the USAID stuff, I went over it with (the president) in detail and he agreed that we should shut it down,” Musk said Monday on Spaces, a platform on X where users can have live audio conversations, CNN reported.

“It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm it in,” Musk also said on Spaces, per the Associated Press. “What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.”

“We’re shutting it down,” he said.

What does USAID do?

According to an archived USAID webpage, the agency was created by U.S. president John F. Kennedy in 1961.

In its first decade, “international development assistance opportunities grew tremendously.” In the 1970s, there was a shift in the organization to focus on “basic human needs,” like food and nutrition, population planning, health, education and human resources development. Throughout the 1980s, the agency put the spotlight on stabilizing currencies and financial systems, while the 1990s focused on sustainable development.

For example, in 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall — which divided the German city following the Second World War — the agency provided programs to help establish “functioning democracies with open, market-oriented economic systems and responsive social safety nets.”

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In the 2000s, USAID offered assistance to Afghanistan and Iraq to “rebuild government, infrastructure, civil society and basic services such as health care and education.”

Overall, from its creation until now, the agency has been involved in many sectors, from gender equality and women empowerment to water and sanitation, to economic growth and trade.

Per CNN, billions of dollars are dispensed annually across the world to support its efforts.

Why does Trump want to shut USAID down?

Trump and his allies, including Musk, have reportedly said that the agency promotes liberal causes, according to the Associated Press, CNN and ABC News.

Critics have said that the Biden administration used USAID “to leverage policy changes” around the world, Fox News reported. Musk accused the organization of mismanaging its funds, per the publication.

Last week, Reuters reported that the Trump administration told USAID workers in a memo that they should get on board with the government’s “America First” policy, as described by the president on Jan. 20.

After Trump issued an executive order on reevaluating and realigning U.S. foreign aid, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio “paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and (USAID) for review,” according to a news release from the U.S. Department of State.

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“President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people,” the news release said. “Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative.”

What is the current state of USAID?

Staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development were instructed to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters on Monday, according to a notice distributed to them.

As of Monday, the USAID website is no longer available online.

USAID staffers said they also tracked more than 600 employees who reported being locked out of the agency’s computer systems overnight. Those still in the system received emails saying that “at the direction of Agency leadership” the headquarters building “will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3.”

Two government employees who tried to gain access to the USAID offices in the building on Monday morning said they were turned away by security guards, who told them the offices were open but people could not go in. Later in the morning, uniformed Department of Homeland Security officers blocked the lobby of the USAID’s headquarters using yellow tape with the words “do not cross.”

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Staffers said employees earlier Monday had been able to reach other parts of the agency to clear personal belongings from their offices.

Over the weekend, the Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Musk’s government-inspection teams, a current and a former U.S. official told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, earlier carried out a similar operation at the Treasury Department, gaining access to sensitive information including the Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems. The Washington Post reported that a senior Treasury official had resigned over Musk’s team accessing sensitive information.

Democratic lawmakers have protested the moves, saying Trump lacks constitutional authority to shut down USAID without congressional approval and decrying Musk’s accessing sensitive government-held information through his Trump-sanctioned inspections of federal government agencies and programs.

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USAID has been one of the federal agencies most targeted by the Trump administration in an escalating crackdown on the federal government and many of its programs.

It is not clear how or if USAID will move forward.

Who is speaking out against USAID’s possible shutdown?

On Sunday, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren posted on X that “no one elected Musk,” who was allowed, by Trump, to “access people’s personal information and shut down government funding.”

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“We must do everything in our power to push back and protect people from harm,” she said.

Democratic Senator from New Jersey Cory Booker called the dismantling of USAID illegal and reckless in a post on X on Sunday.

“Their malicious actions are putting the health of people, especially children, at grave risk, and will surely lead to future public health and migration crises in the U.S. – let alone suffering around the globe,” he wrote.

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Another Democratic New Jersey senator, Andy Kim, also spoke out on X, recalling his time working there.

“I worked in USAID/Africa bureau where we helped rehabilitate former child soldiers in Uganda, helped with an emerging famine in Malawi. Trump admin complains about China’s growing influence in Africa but then shuts down one of our best tools to fight this,” he said.

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“Shame on them for demonizing Americans who are serving our nation, often in difficult and dangerous places,” wrote Kim.

With additional reporting by the Associated Press

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