Agencies Washington

Staffers of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) were instructed to stay out of the agency's Washington headquarters on Monday, according to a notice distributed to them, after billionaire Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency.  "It's been run by a bunch of radical lunatics. And we're getting them out   and then we'll make a decision (on its future)," Trump said on Sunday.

USAID staffers said they tracked 600 employees who reported being locked out of the agency's computer systems overnight. Those still in the system received emails in the agency system saying that "at the direction of Agency leadership" the headquarters building will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday. The developments come after Musk said early Monday that he had spoken with Trump about the six-decade US aid and development agency and "he agreed we should shut it down."

On Sunday, Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to members of Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) teams, a current and a former US official said. Musk on Sunday said in a post an X, "USAID is a criminal organisation. Time for it to die." 

Early Monday, Musk held a live session on X Spaces to talk about DOGE's accomplishments. Musk said that he spoke in detail about USAID with the president. "He agreed we should shut it down," Musk said. "It became apparent that its not an apple with a worm it in," Musk said. "What we have is just a ball of worms. You've got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It's beyond repair." 

In a subsequent post, Musk doubled down and, without giving evidence, asked his 215 million X followers, "Did you know that USAID, using YOUR tax dollars, funded bioweapon research, including Covid-19, that killed millions of people?"AFP reported.