Update) Washington D.C. - Billionaire Elon Musk attacked the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), calling it a "criminal organization." President Donald Trump added that the agency was "run by radical lunatics" and was considering its future. The assault on the humanitarian relief agency tasked with overseas marks a significant new front in Trump's move to give unprecedented power to Musk to upend government departments and counter what they consider wasteful official spending and overreach. The president initially froze all aid spending for three months, and though he subsequently issued waivers for food and other humanitarian aid to continue, aid workers say uncertainty reigns with the future of the organization as an independent agency far from assured. USAID has been run by a bunch of radical lunatics and we're getting them out... and then we'll make a decision [on its future]," Trump said on Sunday without elaborating. He underscored his support for Musk, telling reporters that he felt the billionaire was "doing a good job," even if they did not agree on every point. USAID, which is established by an act of Congress, manages a budget of $42.8 billion meant for humanitarian relief and development assistance around the world. A senior official from a US-based organization feared that the prioritization of "emergency" assistance was part of a broader plan in which Washington would discontinue funds for anything else. There have been reports Trump wants to roll USAID into the State Department. His team did not respond to Agence France-Presse (AFP) calls for comment. During a talk hosted on X at midnight on Monday, Musk said Trump "agreed that we should shut it down." The X session - attended by businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and two Republican senators - was on Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with slashing federal spending. Without providing details, Musk said "tremendous progress" had been made. If we can get that deficit in half, from [2 trillion] to half, and we can get the economic growth to match... that means there will be no inflation," Musk said, adding that he would focus on "fraud and waste." DOGE was founded as part of the so-called executive office of the president, as a temporary 18-month organization under the repurposed United States Digital Service. It does not enjoy full status as a government department, which would require Congress' approval, and Musk is neither federal employee nor a government official. It is unclear to whom DOGE is accountable. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy has criticized the "total destruction" of the agency. "The people elected Donald Trump to be President, not Elon Musk," New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. "Having an unelected billionaire, with his own foreign debts and motives, raiding US classified information is a grave threat to national security.

Update) Washington D.C. - Billionaire Elon Musk attacked the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), calling it a "criminal organization." President Donald Trump added that the agency was "run by radical lunatics" and was considering its future. The assault on the humanitarian relief agency tasked with overseas marks a significant new front in Trump's move to give unprecedented power to Musk to upend government departments and counter what they consider wasteful official spending and overreach. The president initially froze all aid spending for three months, and though he subsequently issued waivers for food and other humanitarian aid to continue, aid workers say uncertainty reigns with the future of the organization as an independent agency far from assured. USAID has been run by a bunch of radical lunatics and we're getting them out... and then we'll make a decision [on its future]," Trump said on Sunday without elaborating. He underscored his support for Musk, telling reporters that he felt the billionaire was "doing a good job," even if they did not agree on every point. USAID, which is established by an act of Congress, manages a budget of $42.8 billion meant for humanitarian relief and development assistance around the world. A senior official from a US-based organization feared that the prioritization of "emergency" assistance was part of a broader plan in which Washington would discontinue funds for anything else. There have been reports Trump wants to roll USAID into the State Department. His team did not respond to Agence France-Presse (AFP) calls for comment. During a talk hosted on X at midnight on Monday, Musk said Trump "agreed that we should shut it down." The X session - attended by businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and two Republican senators - was on Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with slashing federal spending. Without providing details, Musk said "tremendous progress" had been made. If we can get that deficit in half, from [2 trillion] to half, and we can get the economic growth to match... that means there will be no inflation," Musk said, adding that he would focus on "fraud and waste." DOGE was founded as part of the so-called executive office of the president, as a temporary 18-month organization under the repurposed United States Digital Service. It does not enjoy full status as a government department, which would require Congress' approval, and Musk is neither federal employee nor a government official. It is unclear to whom DOGE is accountable. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy has criticized the "total destruction" of the agency. "The people elected Donald Trump to be President, not Elon Musk," New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. "Having an unelected billionaire, with his own foreign debts and motives, raiding US classified information is a grave threat to national security.