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President Trump has just appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as Acting Director of USAID....The corruption ends NOW.
Musk told the more than 682,000 listeners who tuned in that the president "agreed we should shut it [USAID] down." This would be one of the largest planned cuts to date, and the fate of USAID is likely that it will lose its independence and be rolled into the State Department.
"As we dug into USAID it became apparent that what we have here is not an apple with a worm in it, but we have actually just a ball of worms. If you have an apple with a worm in it, you can take the worm out. If you have a whole ball of worms, it's hopeless. USAID is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple you just need to get rid of the whole thing. That's why it's got to go. It's beyond repair," Musk explained.
Audit USAID…Then Shut it Down!
by Ron Paul | Feb 3, 2025
As of this writing, when you attempt to access the US Agency for International Development (USAID) website or social media pages you are informed that, “This site can’t be reached.” The media reports that the new Trump Administration has not only frozen USAID activities but may be planning on bringing it back under control of the US State Department. Other reports, including statements by Elon Musk, suggest that it will be closed completely.
If true, the closing of USAID may be one of the most significant changes President Trump has made among many dramatic actions in his first couple of weeks in office. Many Americans may still have the idea that USAID is a government agency delivering relief at disaster sites overseas. They may still remember the bags of rice or grain with the USAID logo on them. But that is not USAID.
USAID is a key component of the US government’s “regime change” operations worldwide. USAID spends billions of dollars every year propping up “NGOs” overseas that function as shadow governments, eating away at elected governments that the US interventionists want to overthrow. Behind most US foreign policy disasters overseas you will see the fingerprints of USAID. From Ukraine to Georgia and far beyond, USAID is meddling in the internal affairs of foreign countries – something that would infuriate Americans if it was happening to us.
When President Trump ordered a 90 day pause in USAID activities, we quickly learned just how pernicious the agency really is. The US media reported that Ukrainian press outlets were scrambling to keep their doors open when the US dollars stopped flowing. It is reported that 90 percent of the media outlets are funded by the US government!
This means that there is virtually no independent media in Ukraine, only fake news outlets willing to toe the US Administration’s propaganda line. Does anyone think these wholly US-funded “news” outlets would ever publish a story that the US government did not want published?
This is plainly immoral, but it is also dangerous. Most US mainstream media stories about Ukraine have their origins in the “reporting” of the local media. From battlefield news to casualties to the state of the Ukrainian military, the “news” from Ukraine is being written by US government-backed media outlets and then picked up by US and other western media. It is a closed propaganda loop that not only propagandizes the US citizen but also feeds false information into US government outlets – such as Congress – that rely on mainstream US media reporting for their news on Ukraine.
No wonder so many in Washington continue to support this hopeless war!
But USAID is not just in the business of disinformation. Elon Musk recently re-posted a New York Post article on X reporting that USAID funneled $53 million to EcoHealth Alliance to support gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab! Did USAID help fund COVID? Americans have a right to know.
In natural catastrophes overseas Americans have shown themselves to be extremely generous. Private volunteer assistance organizations can more effectively assist victims of disasters worldwide.
USAID needs a full and transparent audit. Americans deserve to know exactly what is being done in their name overseas. Then the agency needs to be shuttered completely, and its employees sent home. That would go a long way toward making America great again.
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https://ronpaulinstitute.org/audit-usaidthen-shut-it-down/
Even this article is full of dumb statements:
USAID Absorbed Into State Department Under Rubio After DOGE Crusade
https://www.zerohedge.com/political...-ball-worms-no-apple-must-get-rid-whole-thing
Here's a snippet of Musk talking about it, but the whole article has much of the same sentiment:
This idea that USAID was an "independent agency feeding the deep state's piggy bank" is silly. There is no independent agency in the executive branch. They all answer to the President. It's literally written in the Foreign Assistance Act, that the President is supposed to give yearly strategic reports and guidance on how to use the money.
The more Musk talks, the more he appears to just be a liar. He must know that the President has no power for "planned cuts". Cut what? Trump can only cut staff, but the money for staff is still there for him to spend which is likely the money Musk is financing his team with.
There's no "killing" USAID without Congress repealing the Foreign Assistance Act. What's more likely with Rubio in charge, is more money directed to Israel.
But it's great P.R. for Trump to "expose" things, especially when it whitewashes his first term.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the United States government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $50 billion, USAID is one of the largest official aid agencies in the world and accounts for more than half of all U.S. foreign assistance – the highest in the world in absolute dollar terms.
Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act on September 4, 1961, which reorganized U.S. foreign assistance programs and mandated the creation of an agency to administer economic aid. USAID was subsequently established by the executive order of President John F. Kennedy, who sought to unite several existing foreign assistance organizations and programs under one agency.[4] USAID became the first U.S. foreign assistance organization whose primary focus was long-term socioeconomic development.
Congress authorizes USAID's programs in the Foreign Assistance Act,[5] which Congress supplements through directions in annual funding appropriation acts and other legislation. As an official component of U.S. foreign policy, USAID operates subject to the guidance of the president, secretary of state, and the National Security Council.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Agency_for_International_Development
Hmmm. It appears that USAID was created by executive order, thus it can be terminated by executive order.
The original intent of the organization has been completely corrupted. And I highly doubt any POTUS knows everything that goes on there.