By David Shepardson and Chris Sanders WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Billionaire Elon Musk, who is heading U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to shrink the federal government, gave an update on the effort early Monday,

Elon Musk called USAID a criminal organization that should “die.” Proponents say it’s a key arm of U.S. influence that, if destroyed, “cannot be easily rebuilt.”

Musk, CEO of X (formerly Twitter), has been on a posting spree, using his platform to justify and denigrate his takeover of USAID. He’s called the agency " evil ," a " criminal organization ," and a "viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America."

The USAID officials had a legal obligation to bar staffers without proper security clearance from seeing classified documents, according to reports

Tech billionaire Elon Musk said he believes the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is a “criminal organization” that should “die.” “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to

When USAID director of security John Voorhees and his deputy, Brian McGill, refused to allow them in, the DOGE employees threatened to call the US Marshals, two sources said.

USAID faces uncertainty as top security officials are suspended after blocking Elon Musk’s task force from accessing classified areas. Trump’s administration escalates its crackdown on foreign aid, with Musk branding USAID a “criminal organization.

Elon Musk said he's spoken with President Trump on the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) and "he agreed" that "we should shut it down." The big picture: Musk's comments during a late-night X spaces discussion followed reports that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) representatives had visited USAID's D.

The move by the Trump administration comes as billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk has been denigrating USAID, the world’s largest provider of food assistance.