The Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development may be the first step in a broader plan to use foreign aid as a support system for fossil fuels.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has put a 90-day freeze on most foreign assistance, ordered an end to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, and deployed Tesla CEO Elon Musk to slash federal agencies and personnel. It’s all in line with Project 2025, the policy handbook produced by the Heritage Foundation with input from more than 100 conservative organizations.
The administration’s attempts to entirely dismantle USAID — led by unelected billionaire Musk — go beyond what Project 2025 proposed. Musk has said he is “feeding USAID into the woodchipper,” and the Trump administration has moved to fold the agency into the State Department. A federal judge Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from putting thousands of the agency’s employees on leave.
It’s unclear whether Musk and the Heritage Foundation are on the same page, and neither responded to requests for comment. But Project 2025 offers insight into what Trump allies want out of U.S. foreign aid: the promotion of fossil fuels and the elimination of foreign country regulations that American industry finds burdensome.
