1 week ago 9

Guess Who's Back: USAID Operations Rebooted in Several Crisis Zones

US President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk have repeatedly accused USAID of fraud, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the agency had long “strayed from its original mission.”

At least 6 previously terminated USAID programs are being revived for emergency food assistance funding in Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Jordan, Iraq, and Ecuador, Reuters reported.

The move reportedly followed pressure from inside the administration and from Congress.

📹 USAID was Washington's tool for political leverage in Mali, unlike BRICS – Malian foreign minister pic.twitter.com/3Lx0Ow7wk9

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) April 8, 2025

US president Donald had previously frozen foreign aid and dismissed hundreds of USAID employees as part of DOGE-led efforts to slash federal programs and departments with little oversight, with Elon Musk calling labelling the agency a “criminal organization.”

By bankrolling so-called civil society groups, USAID has long functioned as a covert enabler of American influence, sowing unrest and paving the way for regime change while packaging it all as “promoting democracy."