What's going on with USAID?

US President Donald Trump's administration appears to be closing Washington's main international aid agency under a host of measures to cut government spending.

International humanitarian organisations have warned that such a decision could have catastrophic consequences.

Topping the initiative to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is Elon Musk, the appointed administrator of the Trump for reducing government spending, reports Radio Free Europe.

Musk claims the administration can cut spending for $1 trillion, and his entire move describes it as a battle against corruption.

USAID workers have accepted a report that the agency's headquarters in Washington will be closed to personnel on February 3rd, “with the decision of the agency's lead”, have reported American media, such as CNN and Associated Press, citing several sources.

Radio Free Europe has contacted the American Embassy in Pristina to see if a similar request has been made to U staff.AID in Pristina, but has not received answers until text publication.

USAID's main website, which according to data from the United Nations Organisation, offers more than 40 percent of all humanitarian aid in the world, has been out of place, while Trump himself claims the agency was “led by a group of radical crazyties”.

“We are moving them away and will make a decision”, for the future of USAID, he has told reporters on February 2nd.

Trump's comments follow media reports, such as CNN and Reuters, that two senior U security officials AID has been temporarily fired after attempting to prevent representatives of the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the agency's computer systems.

DOGE is an organisation founded by Trump and led by Musk.

Musk himself described it. USAID as “criminal organisation”, and has said it is “the time for it to be extinguished”, although the agency manages tens of billions of dollars Congress approves as assistance outside US borders.

A group of Democrats on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has sent them February 2nd a card US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, expressing “deep concern” about the actions of the Trump administration, which is marking an agency that, according to them, was established “to ensure that we can send developmental expertise and assistance across borders quickly, especially in times of crisis, to achieve our national security goals”.

The U.S. State Department, under Rubio's leadership, has decided on January 24th to freeze new thrones for almost all foreign assistance programmes under Trump's pledges to have any programme in line with his foreign policy.

Rubio, after taking office last month, said that “whatever we spend, every program we finance, and any policy we pursue, should be simplified in response to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does America make it more prosperous?

In the Trump executive order, 90-day break in all aid has been called in order to assess efficiency and “consistence with American foreign policy”. The order, however, enables Rubio to make small exceptions for “specific programmes”.

Humanitarian groups and nongovernmental organisations worldwide have raised concerns about USAID's fate, following Trump's executive order.

Influence on Kosovo

U nAID has been present in Kosovo since 1999, and has since invested more than $1 billion in Kosovo development.

Over 25 years, U n US has developed programmes to fight corruption, rule of law and good governance, fight against deinformation and the lack of independent media, strengthen civil society and democracy, economic development and attract foreign investment.

In August 2024, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani signed a grant with USAID, which offers additional assistance to Kosovo institutions worth $35m.

The grant was part of the previously reached deal worth about $146 million, aimed at providing better services to citizens, increasing the responsibility of institutions, and managing more effectively.

Until the funds freeze, USAID in Kosovo has been funding a host of activities. These include:

• Over $12m assistance in supporting legislative reforms and establishing the Commercial Court;
• $15 million aid to improve the inclusion and accountability of government;
• Over $13m to address the challenges of corruption and good governance in municipalities;
• almost $12 million assistance to improve the independence of the judiciary and prioritism of citizens' needs during judicial processes;
• Aids over $16 million to promote good competition in local and international markets;
• Over $13 million assistance for citizens' participation in local government;
• Almost $12 million assistance to increase institutional capacity for energy market development.

Kreshnik Shehu, a Kosovo woodworker, told Free Europe Radio days ago that US aid has played an important role in increasing exports to this subject.

The Shehu company, as well as the timber sector in Kosovo, have benefited from USAID funding.

In 2014, exports to our sector stood at 2.5m euros”, Shehu told Radio Free Europe.

“Today, they are more than 150m euros. This shows that over the past ten years, the contribution of USAID has been huge. He has been a crucial factor in the growth of this” sector, Shehu has added.

If that help did not exist, we would have remained many years behind”, Shehu, whose company has headquarters in the town of Drenas, said.

“We still need it, because we have not yet grown enough to cope with incredible competition on the international market”.

Kosovo Economic Ode Chairman Lulzim Rafuna had also said that U AID has played an important role in developing the state of Kosovo.

“U n US Continues to help numerous associations and businesses, including companies led by women, information technology companies and export-oriented businesses”, Rafuna has told Radio Free Europe.

According to him, USAID has also helped reduce tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.

“has been important in providing assistance to finding solutions to trade disputes, including exports and imports to Serbian and regional markets. So, besides promoting economic development, USAID has played a vital role in reducing tensions between the two countries”.

Influence From Ukraine to Afghanistan

The pause in funding for Afghanistan “would be catastrophic for more than 22 million Afghans needing assistance”, said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Council for Refugees, in some response to Radio Azadi Free Europe Radio.

Since Russia started the full fight in Ukraine in February 2022, USAID has offered Ukraine valuable assistance in billions of dollars, development assistance and budgetary support.

Trump has criticised the amount of assistance offered including billions of dollars of military aid that Biden approved for Ukraine.

Svilana Musiak, researcher at the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission, Kiev-based nongovernmental organisation, has told Ukrainian Radio Europe Free Radio Service that suspension of U funds USAID for Ukraine could negatively influence programmes affecting civil society and signal reduced US support for democratic reforms and the economic stability of the state”.

Several representatives of Ukrainian civil society have said they support an audit of funds sharing UAID in this country.

Olena Trehub, leader of the Independent Commission against Corruption, and member of the Anti-Corruption Council, which works against the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, has said on February 2nd on Facebook that, she has always said,AID needs to be reformed, saying it has witnessed the sharing of large government funds through this agency, but that “results have left for the desired”.

However, she has mentioned that W US has supported significant reforms, civil society, humanitarian and infrastructure projects, which have had great impact on the development of Ukraine.

Speaking to the CBS News channel, on February 2nd, Republican congregator Brian Mast from Florida, has said he's working with Ruby “to make sure there is proper command and control” in agencies like USAID.

Mast, head of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, has said he would back USAID's “exhumation as the department divided” and his involvement in the other “Apartment” of the US State Department.

Two Democrats of the American Senate have said in the letter sent on February 2nd to Rubio that “sela attempts to melt or include U n US within the State Department, should be done by law, and should be revised, discussed and approved by Congress”.

<x) USAID requires preliminary consultation and announcement of Congress”, they have said among other things on paper.