Washington, United States: Musk USAID cuts dispute escalated after Elon Musk challenged critics to name people who died from aid reductions and Nicholas Kristof identified child victims in affected countries.
Kristof, a New York Times columnist, cited children and an infant in Liberia and South Sudan after Musk disputed claims tied to USAID cuts.
Musk responded on social media, calling Kristof a liar while offering no counter-evidence in the exchanges.
Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, has described the cuts as a “death sentence” for an estimated 4.5 million children.
A 2025 Lancet study projected that deep USAID funding cuts could cause more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million children under five.
The Centre for Global Development estimated in March 2025 that U.S. assistance historically saved about 3.3 million lives a year through programmes covering HIV/AIDS, vaccines, tuberculosis, malaria and humanitarian relief.
Public health groups reported disruptions to antiretroviral therapies, malaria prevention and emergency relief supply lines after the funding freeze.
Read: Elon Musk Net Worth Hits $1.32 Trillion After SpaceX IPO
Refugees International President Jeremy Konyndyk said that before the cuts, foreign aid accounted for less than 1.4% of the total U.S. federal budget.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reported that USAID cuts and other aid reductions have weakened the capacity of the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
