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Elon Musk is once again using his self-appointed 'First Buddy' position to flex his muscles at the White House.
More than just being the world's richest man, Elon Musk finds himself neatly at the side of President Donald Trump during his second term.
While some have questioned the relationship between the pair, Musk is sitting pretty as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Tasked with cutting a mere $2 trillion from government spending, Musk is on a cleaning spree to trim the fat in Washington. After the National Space Council was seemingly shuttered, USAid looks like it’s next on the chopping block.
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Speaking on X during one of its Spaces, Musk teased he’s working to close the United States Agency for International Development, writing: "It’s beyond repair."
He added that the POTUS agrees with him, saying that Donald Trump also thinks it should be shut down. Musk then went on to target the organization's leaders, referring to them as "a bunch of radical lunatics."
Musk continued, "We’ve just got to do wholesale spring cleaning," and said he has Trump's blessing to fold whatever is left of USAid into the State Department.
This would be a major move, especially considering USAid is the world’s largest single donor to aid.
In the 2023 fiscal year, the USA gave $72 billion in aid to everything from HIV/Aids treatment to clean water assistance.
This amounted to 42% of all humanitarian aid that was tracked by the UN in 2024.
It looks like the wheels are already in motion, with USAid Director of Security John Voorhees being suspended after refusing to let DOGE staff into its services. Voorhees and his deputy, Brian McGill, have reportedly been suspended after DOGE staff threatened to call US Marshals. DOGE's Katie Miller wrote on X: "No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances."
The USAid website is currently offline, and with some 10,000 staff on its books, this could be a major move for America. As part of Trump's 'America First' policy, the President has ordered a freeze on most foreign aid. This has put the likes of drug treatments for HIV at risk.
It comes as Musk says he's meeting with JP Morgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon to try and convince bond markets that DOGE can put confidence in US debt. Although Musk reportedly won't be getting paid to lead DOGE, it's a role he's seemingly taking very seriously.
Trump signed an executive order mandating that DOGE is tasked with "modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity." That power has seen Musk and co. spend the weekend accessing Treasury payment systems and firing staff at USAid.
Up next, Musk has also targeted the Office of Personnel Management and the Government Services Administration, meaning the agencies that coordinate human resources, real estate, and government tech are also in trouble. Musk has admitted he doesn't think it's possible to hit DOGE's proposed $2 trillion in cuts, although it looks like he's going to do his best to get there.
