Grants to Ukraine, pressure on Orbán, projects in Yerevan: Why has Trump targeted USAID?

A new scandal is brewing in the U.S. government: The office of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington has been closed. It is currently being searched, TASS reports.

Employees are working remotely, U.S. media reports. According to Elon Musk, Director of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the main reasons for this action include uncontrolled financial spending (the agency’s budget for 2024 amounted to $32 billion) and “the organization’s non-compliance with American values.” It is also evident that Republicans want to bring USAID under the full control of the State Department.

The agency was established in the 1960s from several smaller entities with the goal of providing economic assistance to developing countries, reducing poverty, and strengthening democracy. “However, in practice, all declared objectives were quite destabilizing in nature. These include $800 million in grants to Ukraine in 2020, the launch of the KazAID program in Kazakhstan in 2021 to promote U.S. interests in Central Asia, the purchase of Starlink systems for Ukraine in 2022, pressure on Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary in 2023, and funding for political projects in Armenia in 2024,” the agency stated.

As noted, the closure of USAID clearly aligns with President Donald Trump’s vision of optimizing U.S. spending and strengthening the positions of his loyal administration, appearing to be a logical and consistent step. However, Democrats on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations have already demanded an explanation from Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding how and why DOGE employees were able to access the agency’s documents. Furthermore, since Congress established USAID as an independent agency, any intervention in its operations must be officially approved and sanctioned.