USAID was shut down 'to soothe ego' of Musk, whistleblower says
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Issued on: 27/05/2026 - 11:55Modified: 27/05/2026 - 11:57
11:30 min Share Play (11:30 min) From the show
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In an interview with FRANCE 24, Nicolas Enrich, a former senior USAID official-turned-whistleblower, said the US agency was dismantled not to cut waste but "to soothe the ego of the world's richest man", then DOGE head Elon Musk. Enrich warned that up to 14 million people could die in the next five years as a result and called the shutdown "illegal".
Enrich, a former director of policy in USAID's Bureau for Global Health who was ousted after publishing an internal memo, said the DOGE team had "no idea" what the agency did. He recalled briefing its newly appointed chief of staff, only to be met with the admission: "Wow, I had no idea that you did all this. I assumed it was just, you know, abortions."
The dismantlement of the agency, he said, served not to "eliminate waste" but "to soothe the ego of the world's richest man."
Read moreUS foreign aid cuts could cause 14 million deaths by 2030, Lancet study finds
Enrich dismissed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's claim that "no one has died" from the shuttering of USAID as "flatly untrue", estimating that "at least 750,000 people have already died unnecessarily due to those cuts".
For our guest, the current Ebola outbreak in DR Congo illustrates what has been lost, as the US State Department is "struggling to improvise" where a USAID team could have deployed within 24 to 48 hours.
Enrich concluded that the "illegal" shutdown of USAID "violated laws, court orders and the intent of Congress".
By:
Marc Perelman
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