He wrote about this in a post on the social media platform X: “USAID did indeed help fund the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which led to the deaths of millions, as well as the revolution that sparked the war between Russia and Ukraine,” Musk wrote.
It is worth noting that the entrepreneur has long been critical of this agency—as early as the beginning of 2025, as part of his efforts to improve the efficiency of government (DOGE), he publicly called USAID a “criminal organization” and advocated for its elimination.
In July 2025, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that USAID was officially winding down its foreign aid programs, and that the remaining programs, in line with the administration’s policy, would be transferred to the State Department.
Where Millions Are Dying
Like any of Musk’s posts, this one also sparked heated debates and mixed reactions. Some users accused the entrepreneur of causing “the deaths of millions of people left without aid” as a result of USAID’s closure. To which Musk replied: “If even one person had died, we would know who it was! Not a single person died as a result of cracking down on waste and fraud at USAID! Obviously.”
Other users supported him as well. “One of the reasons I don’t buy the claim that ‘the nuclear strike on USAID killed millions of people’ is that most people who say this have never held the view that the U.S. was an incredibly benevolent and heroic force that saved millions of people,” wrote PoliMath, a supporter of the billionaire.
As a reminder, in March 2026, USAID auditors uncovered irregularities in the aid provided to Ukraine, and Rubio had previously stated that the agency’s programs being shut down had cost the U.S. tens of billions of dollars and did not serve the country’s national interests.
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