Medical experts and lawmakers are denouncing Elon Musk as cruel after a new study predicted that the billionaire’s efforts to help the Trump administration dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development could lead to more than 14 million deaths over the next five years.
According to the analysis, published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet, programs funded by USAID prevented nearly 92 million deaths worldwide from 2001 through 2021. Researchers found that across 133 countries, the agency helped stop more than 25 million deaths from HIV/AIDS, about 11 million from diarrheal diseases, 8 million from malaria and nearly 5 million from tuberculosis.
Using that data, experts calculated that 14 million people around the globe could die over the next five years because of the USAID cuts, including about 4.5 million children younger than 5.
USAID became an agency of particular interest to Musk, as his so-called Department of Government Efficiency carried out President Donald Trump’s mission to slash the federal budget. In February, Musk bragged on X that he “spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”
A month later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the cancellation of 83% of USAID’s programs, saying they did not serve “the core national interests of the United States.” Rubio’s move had an immediate effect, as NBC News reported:
The action brought many overseas humanitarian efforts to a grinding halt, leading to the closings of food kitchens and health clinics in underserved countries and in some cases delaying or stopping the distribution of lifesaving medications, bed nets to ward off malaria, nutritional packets for starving children and chlorine tablets to disinfect dirty water.
Samantha Power, who led USAID during the Biden administration, told CNN that the effects that Musk’s cuts will have on global health are “not something that any American should tolerate.”
“Efficiency, we’re all for efficiency, but actually taking away programming that is saving lives … that’s just devastating,” Power said.
Timothy Caulfield, a professor of health law and science policy at the University of Alberta in Canada, called the prediction “Sickening. Heartbreaking. Evil.” Rachel Clarke, an English physician specializing in severe illness, seemingly singled out Musk, attributing the estimated death toll to “one man’s cruelty & venality.” Congressional Democrats also shared their reactions to the study. “Donald Trump’s legacy: As many as 14 MILLION more deaths over the next five years thanks to USAID cuts made by him, Elon Musk, and his DOGE bros,” Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois wrote on X. “Absolutely shameful.” “This administration’s cruelty knows no bounds,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington wrote in her own post.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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