The Trump Administration Is About to Incinerate 500 Tons of Emergency Food; The Atlantic, July 14, 2025

Hana Kiros , The Atlantic; The Trump Administration Is About to Incinerate 500 Tons of Emergency Food

"Five months into its unprecedented dismantling of foreign-aid programs, the Trump administration has given the order to incinerate food instead of sending it to people abroad who need it. Nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food—enough to feed about 1.5 million children for a week—are set to expire tomorrow, according to current and former government employees with direct knowledge of the rations. Within weeks, two of those sources told me, the food, meant for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will be ash. (The sources I spoke with for this story requested anonymity for fear of professional repercussions.)...

Despite the administration’s repeated promises to continue food aid, and Rubio’s testimony that he would not allow existing food to go to waste, even more food could soon expire. Hundreds of thousands of boxes of emergency food pastes, also already purchased, are currently collecting dust in American warehouses."

Bill Gates announces end of Gates Foundation and decries Elon Musk for Doge cuts; The Guardian, May 8, 2025

Anna Betts , The Guardian; Bill Gates announces end of Gates Foundation and decries Elon Musk for Doge cuts

"“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates said."

USAID fought apartheid. Musk is killing it; The Ink, February 3, 2025

The Ink; USAID fought apartheid. Musk is killing it

"As we speak, an unelected billionaire, born in South Africa, is staging an unconstitutional coup in the United States, shutting down an agency that happened to fight the apartheid regime he and his family thrived under as rich whites.

Now take a moment and read that again.

This is not a drill. All the drills are behind us now.

The billionaire, of course, is Elon Musk, who decided in recent days to disembowel USAID, the nation’s primary agency for foreign aid, an indispensable tool of diplomacy and the exercise of soft power, and one of the largest aid providers on the planet. Musk is reportedly (and by his own claims) overseeing the dismissal of security staff, followed by the apparent firings of 600 USAID employees over the weekend, and, more generally, his project to carry out Trump’s wish to destroy the agency. This is, of course, illegal and unconstitutional, as only Congress — certainly not an unelected consultant without even an appointment — can wind down an agency...

Which raises the question: What did USAID ever do to Elon Musk?...

USAID, it turns out, was important in bringing about the end of apartheid in South Africa. And, in an inversion of today’s anti-congressional coup, that work by the agency came about because Congress actually overrode former President Reagan’s veto of aid and asserted its leadership role in the making of U.S. law, in this case the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act (CAAA)."