Obama Fumes as Trump Officially Kills USAID

After more than 60 years at the forefront of global development and humanitarian relief, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has officially ceased operations drawing condemnation from across the political spectrum and raising fears of widespread humanitarian fallout.

The agency, which was founded in 1961 and had grown into the world’s largest international aid organization, was formally shut down on Tuesday.

Its remaining programs have been absorbed into the U.S. State Department, a move that critics describe as the final step in a gradual dismantling process accelerated under President Donald Trump.

The closure, though long-anticipated due to deep funding cuts in recent years, still sent shockwaves through the global aid community.

Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, along with humanitarian groups and global health experts, issued sharp rebukes, warning that the consequences could be catastrophic.

“This is a tragedy. It’s a travesty,” Obama said during a video call with former USAID staffers.

“USAID represented some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world. Its absence will be felt by millions.”

Bush, who launched the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) during his presidency a program credited with saving over 25 million lives focused his remarks on the shutdown’s human toll.

“Is it in our national interest that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you,” he said in a pre-recorded message to staff.

According to officials, more than 80% of USAID’s programs had already been cancelled by March.

The remaining operations, which once spanned over 100 countries, are now under the purview of the State Department.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who now oversees what remains of U.S. foreign aid, framed the transition as an efficiency measure.

“This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end,” Rubio wrote in a post on Substack.

“Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission that prioritizes our national interests.”

But critics argue that framing USAID’s closure as a bureaucratic streamlining effort ignores the human cost.

A recent study published in The Lancet medical journal projected that the cuts could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, with children accounting for nearly a third of those.

The State Department dismissed the findings, calling them “based on incorrect assumptions.”

The agency’s downfall began early in Trump’s second term after the appointment of billionaire Elon Musk to oversee federal workforce restructuring.

Under Musk’s guidance, sweeping cuts were made to foreign assistance programs including landmine clearance, Ebola containment in Africa, and prosthetics support for injured Ukrainian soldiers.

On Wednesday, USAID’s website still featured a notice informing employees that all direct-hire staff had been placed on administrative leave as of February 23.

The agency once employed approximately 10,000 people, two-thirds of them overseas.

The shutdown has also triggered ripple effects across the global aid ecosystem.

With the U.S. pulling back, other major donors including the UK, France, and Germany have also scaled down their international development budgets.

Last month, the United Nations described the situation as “the deepest funding cuts ever to hit the international humanitarian sector.”

Humanitarian activist and U2 frontman Bono, who joined Obama and Bush in their virtual farewell to USAID employees, summed up the mood:

“They called you crooks when you were the best of us.”

With USAID’s closure, critics fear that not only will humanitarian crises deepen around the world, but America’s moral leadership on the global stage will be irreparably diminished.

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