Elon Musk says President Donald Trump has ‘agreed’ USAID should be shut down

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Agency for International Development is connected the cusp of being shuttered, according to the Trump administration’s billionaire advisor and Tesla CEO Elon Musk — who has been wrestling for power of the bureau successful caller days.

Early Monday, Musk held a unrecorded league connected X Spaces, antecedently known arsenic Twitter Spaces, and said that helium spoke successful item astir USAID with the president. “He agreed we should unopen it down,” Musk said.

“It became evident that its not an pome with a worm it in,” Musk said. “What we person is conscionable a shot of worms. You’ve got to fundamentally get escaped of the full thing. It’s beyond repair.” “We’re shutting it down.”

His comments travel aft the medication placed 2 apical information chiefs astatine USAID on leave aft they refused to crook implicit classified worldly successful restricted areas to Musk’s government-inspection teams, a existent and a erstwhile U.S. authoritative told The Associated Press connected Sunday.

FILE – A antheral walks past boxes of USAID humanitarian assistance astatine a warehouse astatine the Tienditas International Bridge connected the outskirts of Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 21, 2019, connected the borderline with Venezuela. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Members of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known arsenic DOGE, yet did summation entree Saturday to the assistance agency’s classified information, which includes quality reports, the erstwhile authoritative said.

Musk’s DOGE unit lacked precocious capable information clearance to entree that information, truthful the 2 USAID information officials — John Voorhees and lawman Brian McGill — believed themselves legally obligated to contradict access.

The existent and erstwhile U.S. officials had cognition of the incidental and spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that they were not authorized to stock the information.

Musk connected Sunday responded to an X station astir the quality by saying, “USAID is simply a transgression organization. Time for it to die.” He followed with further posts connected X astir the assistance agency.

Kate Miller, who serves connected an advisory committee for DOGE, said successful a abstracted station that nary classified worldly was accessed “without due information clearances.”

It comes a time aft DOGE carried retired a similar cognition astatine the Treasury Department, gaining entree to delicate accusation including the Social Security and Medicare lawsuit outgo systems. The Washington Post reported that a elder Treasury authoritative had resigned implicit Musk’s squad accessing delicate information.

Musk formed DOGE successful practice with the Trump medication with the stated extremity of uncovering ways to fire national workers, chopped programs and slash national regulations.

USAID, whose website vanished Saturday without explanation, has been one of the national agencies astir targeted by the Trump medication successful an escalating crackdown connected the national government and galore of its programs.

“It’s been tally by a clump of extremist lunatics. And we’re getting them out,” Trump said to reporters astir USAID connected Sunday night.

The Trump medication and Secretary of State Marco Rubio person imposed an unprecedented freeze connected overseas assistance that has unopen down overmuch of USAID’s humanitarian, improvement and information programs worldwide — compelling thousands of layoffs by assistance organizations — and ordered furloughs and leaves that person gutted the agency’s enactment and staff successful Washington.

The U.S. is by acold the world’s largest donor of humanitarian aid, with USAID administering billions of dollars successful humanitarian, improvement and information assistance successful much than 100 countries.

Peter Marocco, a returning governmental appointee from Trump’s archetypal term, was a person successful enforcing the shutdown. USAID staffers accidental they judge that bureau outsiders with visitors badges asking questions of employees wrong the Washington office are members of Musk’s DOGE team.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren said successful a station connected Sunday that Trump was allowing Musk to entree people’s idiosyncratic accusation and unopen down authorities funding.

“We indispensable bash everything successful our powerfulness to propulsion backmost and support radical from harm,” the Massachusetts legislator said, without giving details.

Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price successful New York, Matthew Lee successful Panama City and Fatima Hussein successful Washington contributed to this report.