The fight over America’s main foreign aid agency has suddenly become front-page news, with President Donald Trump and Elon Musk pushing to shut it down while Democrats argue they can’t. Here’s what you need to know about USAID and the brewing battle over its future:

What is USAID?

Key players in the current fight:

Donald Trump

Elon Musk

Marco Rubio

Democratic opposition

What’s already happening:

What’s at stake:

What’s next: The fight appears headed for a legal showdown over whether a president can close an agency created by Congress. Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations warn that millions of people worldwide could lose access to vital aid and medical care.

Read more:

• How USAID grew from war relief to a global humanitarian mission

• Democrats dismiss Elon Musk-led push to shut down USAID as ’plainly illegal’

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio takes the role of acting director of USAID

• Elon Musk: Donald Trump ’agreed’ to shutter USAID

• What is USAID? Explaining the U.S. foreign aid agency and why Trump and Musk want to end it

This article is written with the assistance of generative artificial intelligence based solely on Washington Times original reporting and wire services. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Ann Wog, Managing Editor for Digital, at awog@washingtontimes.com

The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.