“The World’s Richest Men Take On the World’s Poorest Children"

A Sympathetic Review

Elon Musk and the Trump Administration’s closure of the United States Agency for International Development (U.S.A.I.D.) is creating devastating harm and even death all over the poorest parts of the globe. Instead of writing an Op Ed, I want to share a heartbreaking column in the New York Times written on February 5, 2025 by Nicholas Kristof, entitled “The World’s Richest Men Take On the World’s Poorest Children.”

“The world’s richest man,” writes Kristof” “is boasting about destroying the United States Agency for International Development, which saves the lives of the world’s poorest children, saying he shoved it ‘into the wood chipper. ‘”

“By my calculations,” says Kristof,

“Elon Musk probably has a net worth greater than that of the poorest billion people on Earth. Just since Donald Trump’s election, Musk’s personal net worth has grown by far more than the entire annual budget of U.S.A.I.D., which in any case accounts for less than 1 percent of the federal budget.”

Kristof argues that cutting U.S.A.I.D is not only an act of extreme cruelty inflicted on the world’s poorest people, but also an act of extreme stupidity. U.S.A.I.D was established to compete for the hearts and minds of poor and vulnerable people in the Third World during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The idea behind U.S.A.I.D. was that by providing genuine humanitarian assistance, we could support our national security by demonstrating the superior compassion of the western democracies over communism. Cutting aid, noted President John F. Kennedy, who originated the program, would be “disastrous” and ultimately more costly in dealing with the political instability that would follow.

In contrast with Kennedy,” notes Kristof, “the Trump administration braids together cruelty, ignorance and shortsightedness, and that combination seems particularly evident in its assault on American humanitarian assistance.” The outright lies by Musk and Trump belie U.S.A.I.D.’s contributions to humanity Kristof has witnessed over the decades.

“I’ve seen southern Africa ravaged by AIDS. And then President George W. Bush’s landmark program against AIDS, called PEPFAR and implemented in part through U.S.A.I.D., transformed the landscape. PEPFAR has saved 26 million lives so far. (In the coming months, I’ll see if I can calculate how many lives are lost to Trump’s cuts in aid.)”

“I’ve seen women and girls with obstetric fistula, a horrific childbirth injury, get a $600 surgery that gives them back their lives — and this is something that U.S.A.I.D. supports.”

“I’ve seen men humiliated by elephantiasis and grotesquely enlarged scrotums, occasionally requiring a wheelbarrow to support their organs as they walk. And U.S.A.I.D. has fought this disease and made it less common.”

“I’ve seen children dying of malaria (and I’ve had malaria), and I’ve seen U.S.A.I.D. help achieve major strides against the disease over the last two decades.”

“I’ve seen the suffering of communities where people in middle age routinely go blind from trachoma, river blindness or cataracts — and the transformation when U.S.A.I.D. helps prevent such blindness.”

Not bad for an agency labelled by Musk as a “criminal organization.”

Kristof also points to other immediate consequences of shutting down U.S.A.I.D.. A federal court has issued a temporary stay on the shutdown of the agency, but the situation on the ground is uncertain.

• The surveillance of bird flu has been interrupted in 49 countries.

• Uganda is experiencing another Ebola outbreak. U.S.A.I.D. helped stave off Ebola pandemic in 2014 through its efforts in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Where is U.S.A.I.D. now? Will China be there?

• Marburg virus, a hemorrhagic fever, recently emerged in Tanzania. Where is U.S.A.I.D.? What other countries will be there instead?

If U.S.A.I.D is crippled or eliminated how will these countries view the United States as their people suffer unnecessarily?

Much has been said about the United States as Christian nation. If so, how do we evaluate the demolition of U.S.A.I.D in light of Matthew 25: 35-40?

“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’