Column: Trump and Musk crippled our most important global aid agency. The consequences are grim

It’s astir apt excessively soon to assertion Elon Musk has babies’ humor connected his hands for efficaciously shuttering America’s astir consequential overseas assistance agency. But spot me: He will.

On Musk’s orders, the enactment of the United States Agency for International Development has travel to a screeching halt. Thousands of its administrators, workers and contractors person been thrown retired of work, its programs suspended for who-knows-how-long and its website nary longer functioning.

“We’re shutting it down,” Musk said Monday. “You’ve got to fundamentally get escaped of the full thing. It’s beyond repair.”

My conjecture is that Musk, the unelected, unappointed billionaire bureaucrat successful complaint of slashing national spending, and his boss, President Trump, are betting that astir Americans won’t attraction astir worldly that goes connected overseas. Voters were successful an isolationist temper erstwhile they gave Trump a 2nd term. And astir of america person lone a glancing cognition of USAID, which delivers humanitarian assistance to processing nations beleaguered by conflict, illness and earthy catastrophe crossed the globe. With a fund of astir $40 billion, USAID is besides the world’s largest supplier of nutrient assistance — which, to enactment successful presumption adjacent Musk mightiness grok, means it saves the lives of malnourished babies.

But — astonishment — Americans bash care. On Wednesday, pro-USAID demonstrations took spot astatine authorities capitols astir the country. In Washington, D.C., wherever USAID is headquartered and galore of its workers and contractors live, thousands turned retired to protest Musk’s abrupt, potentially illegal move.

Detractors whitethorn wonderment what the bureau does, but a amended question is what doesn’t it do?

Founded during the Kennedy medication to antagonistic Soviet influence, USAID has helped Ukraine successful its combat against Russia, worked to guarantee that elections are escaped and just and, collaborating with partners successful 100 countries astir the world, alleviated poverty, hunger, unwellness and desperation. It funds autarkic overseas media and civilian nine activists, advancing planetary state and security. And astir each of that has abruptly stopped.

The New York Times reported that the Trump administration’s stop-work bid to each USAID-funded organizations leaves thousands of radical “with experimental drugs and devices successful their bodies with nary entree to monitoring oregon care.”

Like immoderate monolithic agency, USAID suffers from a grade of waste, fraud and abuse. The agency’s inspector wide besides precocious laid retired his concerns astir a frustrating deficiency of United Nations practice with USAID and recommended changes.

But contempt problems that should beryllium addressed, USAID is the precise embodiment of American brushed power. It’s rather simply the astir persuasive peaceful instrumentality we person to amended people’s lives, dispersed antiauthoritarian ideals and antagonistic China’s increasing power successful Africa and South America.

Which is why, arsenic you tin imagine, autocrats astir the world are thrilled to spot it dismantled.

“Wrapped into the billions the U.S. spends annually connected overseas assistance — much than immoderate different federation — are hundreds of grants for grassroots groups dedicated to warring for ideology successful authoritarian countries astir the world,” the Associated Press reported. Favorable reactions to the agency’s shuttering came from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Russia, the AP noted: “Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said connected X that helium hopes the ‘notorious Deep State doesn’t swallow’ Musk for pulling the plug connected the agency.”

Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation blueprint for the 2nd Trump administration, devotes a full chapter to USAID, accusing the Biden medication of allowing the bureau to beforehand “a extremist ideology” and a “divisive governmental and taste docket that promotes abortion, clime extremism, sex radicalism, and interventions against perceived systematic racism.” And yet contempt specified absurd hyperbole, Project 2025 admits that the bureau is important “to antagonistic Communist China’s strategy of satellite domination.”

Musk called USAID an “evil” “criminal organization.” Trump chimed successful that it’s tally by “a clump of extremist lunatics.”

That is crazy. But it’s not surprising, due to the fact that — with apologies to “Stranger Things” — we’re each surviving successful the Upside Down close now.

“The thought that this is simply a transgression enterprise? Please,” said Peter Kerndt, a nationalist wellness doc who precocious spent 5 years successful Mozambique moving for a USAID contractor connected a task to curb the dispersed of tuberculosis. His enactment progressive tracing, identifying and treating those infected with the deadly disease. On Jan. 28, helium was abruptly fired.

“It’s similar a punch to the gut,” said Kerndt, who worked for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health for 29 years earlier leaving for USAID. “My God, Musk doesn’t cognize the enactment that is being done. I deliberation the richest antheral successful the satellite has an agenda.”

Ya think?

Sen. Chris Murphy advanced a plausible theory Tuesday nighttime successful a video posted to Instagram. Musk, whose concern relies connected authorities contracts, is simply retired to “pad his pockets,” the Connecticut Democrat said. He noted that Musk makes fractional his Teslas successful China, which is besides his biggest overseas market.

“He’s successful a enactment close present with China due to the fact that China is not allowing him to marketplace his self-driving vehicle, and they are trying to springiness vantage to their home self-driving product,” Murphy said. “How bash you get successful speedy favour with the Chinese government? You dismantle the bureau that is the biggest thorn successful the broadside of China.”

The USAID inspector wide was besides investigating how Musk’s SpaceX Starlink outer terminals, purchased with bureau funds, were utilized successful Ukraine’s warfare with Russia, though details are sparse. Biographer Walter Isaacson wrote that Musk erstwhile chopped disconnected the Ukrainian military’s entree to Starlink to thwart a submarine drone onslaught against Russia. That is simply excessively overmuch powerfulness for 1 idiosyncratic to wield.

MAGA Republicans tin yelp each they privation astir “woke” agendas being exported by USAID, but the bottommost enactment is the bureau does incredibly important, lifesaving work.

I asked Dr. Kerndt wherefore Americans should attraction astir the enactment helium does to forestall and cure tuberculosis, which is often fatal if untreated and for which determination is nary vaccine.

“Tuberculosis affects young, steadfast people,” helium told me. “It’s a catastrophic outgo to those individuals, to the breadwinners, to the families. It sinks them further into poverty. It’s thing we tin forestall for pennies connected the dollar. And it’s a root of immeasurable respect for the U.S.”

Throwing that bully enactment distant to appease a childish billionaire volition permission a lasting motivation stain connected this country.

Bluesky: @rabcarian.bsky.social. Threads: @rabcarian