The website for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) went offline over the weekend as the Trump administration continues to assess the future of the agency and US foreign aid policies. When attempting to visit the site, usaid.gov, users encountered a network error or a blank page across various countries and devices.
On Saturday, several top security officials at USAID were placed on leave after blocking staff from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing agency systems. These officials argued that DOGE staff did not have the required security clearances, making it legally necessary to deny them access, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Musk later called USAID “a criminal organization” in a post on X, the platform he owns.
These developments follow an executive order by President Donald Trump in January, which froze billions of dollars in foreign aid and suspended several senior officials at USAID as part of a reevaluation of US foreign aid policy. This freeze left aid recipients, particularly in Africa and Ukraine, scrambling, as USAID typically coordinates funding for humanitarian, health, and disaster relief projects.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a waiver for certain “life-saving humanitarian assistance” while a three-month review is conducted to determine which foreign aid programs align with Trump’s goals. USAID’s initiatives also support key foreign policy priorities, including energy transitions, competing with China on infrastructure, and countering Russian and Chinese influence.
Under the Biden administration, the US and its G7 allies launched several initiatives to counter China’s growing infrastructure influence. However, a diplomat from a G7 country expressed concerns that the current administration views foreign aid more as charity and does not consider how it serves US geopolitical interests.
Reports indicate that Trump may be planning to merge USAID into the State Department. Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Chris Murphy, have warned that such a move would be illegal and harmful to US interests, particularly benefiting China. Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated that Trump’s attempt to dismantle USAID was “happening as we speak,” but emphasized that the president cannot unilaterally shut down a federal agency.
