Rubio Declares He Has Taken Charge of USAID
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has referred to himself as the acting head of USAID. Read Full Article at RT.com.
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The agency's work should align with the “national interest and foreign policy” of the US, the secretary of state has stated.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he has taken on the role of acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Earlier reports in US media indicated that the agency had closed its headquarters.
President Donald Trump has previously criticized the agency's leadership, calling them “radical lunatics,” and has suggested significant changes to the organization. USAID has also come under scrutiny from the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close advisor to Trump.
“I’m the acting director of USAID,” Rubio informed journalists in El Salvador. He noted that he had delegated day-to-day operations of the agency to a staff member, whose identity he did not disclose.
“This is not about ending the programs that USAID does, per se,” Rubio explained. He acknowledged that while some programs were “good,” others raised “strong questions.” He emphasized that “everything” USAID does “has to be in alignment with the national interest and the foreign policy of the United States,” without specifying any particular changes he might pursue.
Earlier, he had indicated that a program-by-program review would be undertaken to assess which initiatives contribute to making “America safer, stronger or more prosperous.”
Musk had previously stated that Trump had “agreed” to entirely shut down the agency, which the president has labeled a “criminal organization” that allegedly financed bioweapons research tied to the emergence of Covid-19.
Founded in 1961, USAID is a soft-power agency that allocates billions of dollars annually to initiatives that advance US interests globally under the guise of humanitarian development. Last week, Trump suspended all agency programs for 90 days and mandated a case-by-case review. According to Rubio, this decision resulted in “a lot more cooperation” from those receiving US assistance.
Over the weekend, the agency’s website went offline, and its account on the social media platform X, owned by Musk, vanished. On Monday, reports indicated that USAID had closed its main office in Washington, DC, instructing staff to refrain from visiting.
James del Carmen for TROIB News
On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he has taken on the role of acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Earlier reports in US media indicated that the agency had closed its headquarters.
President Donald Trump has previously criticized the agency's leadership, calling them “radical lunatics,” and has suggested significant changes to the organization. USAID has also come under scrutiny from the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close advisor to Trump.
“I’m the acting director of USAID,” Rubio informed journalists in El Salvador. He noted that he had delegated day-to-day operations of the agency to a staff member, whose identity he did not disclose.
“This is not about ending the programs that USAID does, per se,” Rubio explained. He acknowledged that while some programs were “good,” others raised “strong questions.” He emphasized that “everything” USAID does “has to be in alignment with the national interest and the foreign policy of the United States,” without specifying any particular changes he might pursue.
Earlier, he had indicated that a program-by-program review would be undertaken to assess which initiatives contribute to making “America safer, stronger or more prosperous.”
Musk had previously stated that Trump had “agreed” to entirely shut down the agency, which the president has labeled a “criminal organization” that allegedly financed bioweapons research tied to the emergence of Covid-19.
Founded in 1961, USAID is a soft-power agency that allocates billions of dollars annually to initiatives that advance US interests globally under the guise of humanitarian development. Last week, Trump suspended all agency programs for 90 days and mandated a case-by-case review. According to Rubio, this decision resulted in “a lot more cooperation” from those receiving US assistance.
Over the weekend, the agency’s website went offline, and its account on the social media platform X, owned by Musk, vanished. On Monday, reports indicated that USAID had closed its main office in Washington, DC, instructing staff to refrain from visiting.
James del Carmen for TROIB News
