--- title: "Official Warns That Elon Musk Is Poised to Kill “Thousands, If Not Hundreds of Thousands” of People" description: "Officials representing numerous aid groups are speaking out in response to the Trump administration's cuts to the USAID." date: "2025-02-04" modified: "2025-02-04" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/official-warns-musk-thousands-usaid-people" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "doge" - "elon musk" - "politics" - "the digest" --- # Official Warns That Elon Musk Is Poised to Kill “Thousands, If Not Hundreds of Thousands” of People ![Officials representing numerous aid groups are speaking out in response to the Trump administration's cuts to the USAID.]() *\Image: Dimitrios Kambouris The Met / Vogue / Kevin Dietsch via Getty / Futurism (edited) \* Unelected official Elon Musk continues to make waves throughout the federal government and beyond, siccing his menagerie of [Gen Z minions]() on the [Census Bureau]() and [US Treasury](). He's also set his sights on the [US Agency for International Development]() (USAID), the $72 billion federal agency responsible for distributing American-funded aid to international communities reeling from the devastation of poverty, malnourishment, disease, and war. "This is a matter of life or death," Beatriz Grinsztejn, president of the International AIDS Society, [told *The Guardian*]() after Trump's [initial pause]() of international aid via his January 20 executive order. That pause had already halted supplies to aid groups like Grinsztejn's, which distributes HIV medication and testing supplies to over 20 million people worldwide. That "pause" is now spinning out into something much more permanent. On Sunday, at least 1,000 USAID employees reported being [locked out]() of the agency's software en masse. Following a day of mass confusion, it emerged that Musk and Trump are working to [axe USAID]() entirely — exacerbating a crisis in aid funding for an already shocked and overwhelmed international relief effort, and creating the ghoulish possibility of mass international deaths as those relying on the aid are forced to do without. "It’s the richest person in the world taking away from the poorest people in the world," an [anonymous USAID official]() told *Politico*. "People will die from this — like thousands, if not hundreds of thousands." In concrete terms, programs in danger include the [Famine Early Warning Systems Network]() (FEWS NET), a widely used USAID-funded initiative which tracks food security in dozens of countries throughout the world. The critical tool has [already gone offline]() following Trump's funding freeze, and is unlikely to rebound given the current trajectory of the agency. USAID is also the functionary that disburses funds to war-torn regions like eastern Ukraine, which received over $16 billion in federal aid in 2023, or other countries where the [Pentagon]() seeks to [assert its footprint](), such as [Afghanistan](), [Somalia](), the [Democratic Republic of Congo](), and [occupied Palestine]() (though Israel is currently slated to continue receiving [military aid]() from the Trump admin.) News of Musk's plan to kibosh USAID was shortly followed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio's announcement that the State Department has [seized control]() of the agency — a de facto takeover not unlike those seen in the [Treasury Department](), [Commerce Department](), [Office of Personnel Management](), or [Office of Management and Budget](). Together, the moves harken back to Musk's [austerity playbook]() in his business ventures like Twitter: swoop in, clean house, tell the remaining workers to "buckle down," and profit before the previously functional institution [crumbles](). Only in this case, USAID isn't a social media company or tech startup with deep-pocketed investors, but a humanitarian relief agency with human lives hanging in the balance. **More on DOGE:** [*Elon Musk Says DOGE Will Now Shut Down Government Payments He Doesn't Like*]() ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()