Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough excoriated Elon Musk, the leader of President Donald Trump’s federal spending task force DOGE, for his “strategically stupid” attacks on the United States Agency for International Development.
In a series of social media posts and on an audio broadcast on his social media platform X, Musk has called for the effective dismantling of USAID.
Musk claimed during the audio broadcast that Trump had offered his “full support” to shut down the agency, though the administration has made no such announcement.
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Scarborough said this would damage America’s standing in the world by ending key humanitarian functions and jeopardize its security by reducing its ability to monitor terrorist activities in countries where the agency has programs.
“To have the world’s richest man go in and say he’s going to basically tear this organization to the ground, not only will cause immeasurable suffering across the globe, it also will put us in a strategic disadvantage,” Scarborough said, during his MSNBC show’s Monday broadcast.
“This is strategic. What he’s talking about doing is, I’m sorry, it is stupid.”
Musk—whose Department of Government Efficiency has been tasked with recommending $2 trillion in federal spending cuts—has been explicit in his desire to see the $50 billion agency shut down.
“USAID is a criminal organization,” he tweeted on Sunday. “Time for it to die.”
Trump, meanwhile, has implemented an unprecedented 90 day pause on virtually all foreign aid—although Secretary of State Marco Rubio has increasingly walked back parts of the order, making sure certain programs that provide emergency food and medical assistance receive exemptions.
Musk’s tweet followed reports that two USAID bureaucrats were put on leave after resisting efforts by Musk’s DOGE lieutenants to access the agency’s systems, including classified information. (A DOGE spokesperson said nothing was accessed “without proper security clearance).
On Monday, Scarborough was visibly appalled by the reports, stressing the importance of USAID on three fronts.
First, its ability to mobilize humanitarian support around the world as one of the largest assistance agencies.
“Here’s an organization that has fought hunger and starvation across the globe, that’s fought diseases across the globe,” he noted.
Second, USAID’s ability to generate so-called soft power—a term for diplomatic favor earned through non-coercive means like military force or Trump’s planned tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
“For anybody that might want to know why the United States engages in USAID, it’s not just charity,” said Scarborough. “It is the ultimate soft power that allows America to have an advantage over China and Russia in the third world, in the Global South, because the United States is there.”
Lastly, the former Republican congressman—who served on the National Security and Armed Services committees while he was in office—said USAID is an effective tool for counterintelligence.
“Make no mistake of it, we actually collect data,” Scarborough said. “We collect intel across Africa on Al-Qaeda’s growth, Al-Qaeda’s movement, what ISIS is trying to do there, what China is trying to do there.
“Yes, there is the carrot, but there is also the stick for our enemies. That’s why they’re there.”
The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment about Musk’s claim that Trump supports his position to shut down USAID.
