US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been targeting USAID for “wasteful spending” for long. The move is a dramatic realignment of US policy.
The Trump administration has formally cancelled 83% of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs after conducting a six-week review by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The remaining programs will now be managed under the US State Department.
Following a 6-week review, we are formally canceling 83% of the programs at USAID,” Rubio posted on X. “The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve (and in some cases even harmed) the core national interests of the United States.”
Following a 6 week review, we are formally cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID.
The 5200 contracts now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not benefit, (and in some instances even harmed), the vital national interests of the United States.
Rubio explained that the administration had planned for the other 1,000 projects (18%) to be managed “more effectively” under the State Department. He also credited Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and his own team for this “historic reform”.
Rubio’s statement followed news of a reported confrontation with Musk at a Cabinet meeting in Trump’s presence. Musk had criticized Rubio for not laying off workers in the State Department, but the Secretary of State replied that more than 1,000 employees had accepted the buyout offer.
US President Donald Trump and his best friend, Elon Musk, have long had a target on the back of USAID for “wasteful spending” on projects all around the globe. Trump declared earlier this month that he was redirecting over 90% of foreign aid channelled through USAID. An aggregate of nearly 5,800 grants was terminated, with over 500 USAID grants frozen.
On January 20, Trump issued what he called a 90-day review to determine which foreign aid programs would proceed, but funding was stopped in its tracks, essentially shutting down all foreign assistance overnight. The freeze had halted thousands of US-funded projects overseas.
Trump and Musk have proceeded quickly to shut down USAID, decrying its programmes as unaligned with the president’s agenda and claiming without justification that its activities are frivolous. It also terminated millions of dollars of money that had been earmarked for other nations, including $21 million for India to ‘boost voter turnout’, which caused a storm.
