Musk claims Trump has given green light to USAID's shut down
The president takes aim at the media that the agency was "run by a bunch of lunatics" and praises the work of the DOGE leader.
Donald Trump appointed Elon Musk to lead federal state cut.
Elon Musk confirmed that Donald Trump has given the green light to eliminate the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). After several days of messages and rumors about the future of the agency, the tycoon assured that he spoke with the president and he agrees that "it should be shut down."
In a X Spaces event early Monday, the tycoon noted that "with regards to the USAID stuff, I went over it with (the president) in detail and he agreed that we should shut it down." Statements that put the nail in the coffin of an agency that had seen its funds frozen and a large number of its employees laid off since Trump's inauguration.
The DOGE chief noted that this is something he himself has consulted with the president "a few times" and the president confirmed to him that he wants to close the agency. The actions of two senior agency officials trying to prevent DOGE personnel from accessing USAID files finished with flaming tempers.
"USAID is a ball of worms."
During the Spaces talk, which he co-presented with Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst and Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk charged that USAID was an "incredibly politically partisan" entity and that its efforts have focused on supporting "radically left-wing causes around the world, including things that are anti-American."
In addition, the Musk mogul asserted that USAID is "not fixable," because "we don't have an apple with a worm in it. We have a ball of worms. USAID is a ball of worms."
Trump: USAID was "run by a bunch of lunatics"
The president, moreover, praised his collaborator, although making it clear that he does not always agree with his positions: "I think Elon is doing a good job. He's a great cost-cutter. Sometimes we won't agree with him and we won'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's very interested in cutting the federal budget."
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