Elon Musk, a tech billionaire, said on Monday morning that President Trump had “agreed to” shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development. USAID administers billions in humanitarian assistance and development aid for more than 100 nations.
“None of this could be done without the full support of the President, you know. And concerning the USAID stuff, I went over it with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down,” Musk said in an X Spaces discussion.
“I checked in with him several times.” Musk said that when he asked him, “Are you certain?” he replied, “Yes.” “So, we’re shutting it down”
Musk told the group, which included Vivek Ramaswamy, former DOGE co-leader and Sen. Joni Ernest (R-Iowa), that they had no hope of USAID improving and would instead be forced to shut down the agency.
“To be clear, as we move forward with shutting down USAID, the reason isn’t just to do some minor housecleaning. As we investigated USAID, it became clear that we’re not dealing with an apple with a worm, but rather a whole ball of worms,” Musk said during the X Spaces discussion.
“If you’ve got an apple that’s got a worm in it, maybe you can take the worm out, but if you’ve got just a ball of worms, it’s hopeless. And USAID is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple, you’ve just got to get rid of the whole thing,” Musk said.
He added, “That’s why it has to go, it’s beyond repair.”
Staffers were then instructed to avoid the USAID headquarters on Monday.
The AP reported that staffers tracked 600 employees who were locked out of their system overnight. The email sent to those still in the system stated that the building would be closed on Monday, February 3 “at the direction and directive of Agency leadership.”
Musk has fought for control over the agency in recent days. It is the latest victim of Trump’s federal government’s sweeping reforms.
The AP reported that the Trump administration put two senior officials on leave administrative after they refused teams from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency Commission (DOGE) to access classified material.
According to the AP, DOGE teams were able to access some of the classified information held by the agency, including intelligence reports.
“We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could gone to some great parties. Did that instead,” Musk posted a message on X Monday morning, shortly after the X Spaces meeting.
Musk had written earlier on Sunday, “USAID (the United States Agency for International Development) is a criminal organization. It’s time for it to go.”
Trump also criticized USAID in remarks made to reporters on Sunday night.
The AP reported that Trump said to reporters: “It was run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re removing them.”
After hearing that Trump may merge USAID and the State Department, Democratic congressional representatives voiced their concern to State officials.
In a letter sent to the Department, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats stated that “any attempt to reorganize, or redesign USAID, requires prior consultation and notification with Congress.”
