USAID shut down behind orders from Trump, Elon Musk

By Addison Brewer-Hay

USAID staff were locked out of the Washington headquarters, the agency’s website vanished, and more than 600 individuals lost access to their worksystems following a shutdown under President Trump.

This decision is part of Trump’s ongoing effort to dismantle the USAID, as he previously engaged in several layoffs and halted programs following his pause on foreign assistance. The United States, the world’s largest provider of humanitarian aid, has disenfranchised policies regarding development and security assistance to countries such as Russia and China. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended Trump’s decision, telling reporters, “USAID was an uncooperative and opaque agency that had failed to answer questions about its funding or operate in line with the Trump administration’s policy agenda.” 

Elon Musk took to X to confirm his part in the effort, writing, “Spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”

However, according to 7News Boston, Democratic lawmakers have protested these decisions, saying the government lacks the constitutional ability to shut down USAID. 

Since its closure, aid contractors mentioned that millions of dollars of medication and other goods were suspended and forbidden to deliver. On top of that, a USAID-supported crisis monitoring program, which was credited for helping prevent a repeat of the 1980s famine in Uganda that killed up to 1.2 million people, has gone offline.