President Donald Trump froze funding to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and put thousands of employees on leave as part of a government efficiency initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk.

Elon Musk said President Donald Trump agreed the US Agency for International Development needs to be “shut down,” following days of speculation over the future of the agency after its funding was frozen and dozens of its employees were put on leave.

It’s beyond repair,” the billionaire adviser to the President said of the agency that administers billions of dollars in global humanitarian, development, and security assistance.

WASHINGTON — "My uncle started USAID in 1961, for humanitarian purposes, to put our country on the side of the poor," Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pronounced Thursday at the White House as he was sworn in as Health secretary.

In the absence of USAID leadership, vulnerable people and governments will turn to China, Russia and terrorist organizations for help, writer says.

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.”