US President Donald Trump continued to assail the US international aid and development agency Friday, claiming it is home to sweeping “fraud” and saying “nothing” can be done to reverse his efforts to close USAID.
“USAID IS DRIVING THE RADICAL LEFT CRAZY, AND THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT BECAUSE THE WAY IN WHICH THE MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT, SO MUCH OF IT FRAUDULENTLY, IS TOTALLY UNEXPLAINABLE,” he said on his proprietary social media website.
“THE CORRUPTION IS AT LEVELS RARELY SEEN BEFORE. CLOSE IT DOWN!” he added.
The fraud and corruption to which Trump is referring is unclear weeks into Trump’s crackdown on the agency. Several of his senior officials and aides, including Elon Musk, have bemoaned Congressionally-funded government programs of which they take issue ideologically, but it does not appear they have deviated into fraud.
Further claims that USAID spent either $50 million or $100 million — the figure has changed depending on which official has made the allegations and at which point — on condoms for Gaza have yet to be proven. It appears as though that sum is greater than the entire USAID budget for condom distribution worldwide, and a report published last year, but since taken down alongside the agency’s entire website, said USAID did not fund any condom programs in the entire Middle East from the 2021-2023 fiscal years.
The Guardian newspaper first reported on the federal record. The agency’s report was published in September, and said only one small shipment of oral and injectable contraceptives was sent to the region, specifically to Jordan.
The crackdown on USAID came after longtime senior Trump aide Stephen Miller singled out the agency in January by claiming “98%” of its “workforce either donated to Kamala Harris or another left-wing candidate,” arguing on national television that it is necessary for Trump to “get control of government.”
“Overwhelmingly, the career federal service in this country is far left, left wing,” he said, more broadly referring to the federal government’s 2 million employees.
According to CNN, citing sources at USAID, the Trump administration plans to keep fewer than 300 employees at the agency, significantly cutting its workforce. The remaining direct hires will be placed on leave starting at midnight Friday.