Trump Fires 2000 USAID Workers, Puts Thousands Others On Leave

In the coming week, we will provide details on how to retrieve personal items from the former USAID workspaces and return government issued devices,

it said

Individuals that are impacted will receive specific notifications on February 23, 2025, with further instructions and information about their benefits and rights,

the notice said

For overseas personnel, USAID intends a voluntary Agency-funded return travel program and other benefits,

USAID’s website said in its notice

Unsigned notices like this are not self-implementing. They must be followed up by an individual personnel action or at least an approved leave slip, properly executed by someone with that authority

a second former official, who asked not to be further identified, told Reuters

USAID was the heart of a robust financial and power machine. A monster created to crush, crumble and erode the freedom and independence of nations so that the liberal-globalist empire could thrive,

Orban wrote

This administration and secretary [of state Marco] Rubio are shortsighted in cutting into the expertise and unique crisis response capacity of the US,

said Marcia Wong, one of the former officials

I regret to inform you that you are affected by a reduction in force action,

said an email sent to one of the workers being fired that was seen by Reuters

Remember, we have a country to save,

Trump added

You can take the humanitarians out of USAID but you can’t take the humanity out of the humanitarians."

Another smiling staffer’s box had a more upbeat tone, with her message reading

We are abandoning the world,

read one message on a box containing belongings being hauled out by a grinning staffer as she walked out of USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs office

Undertake all measures as appropriate to ensure the safety and security of current employees."

USAID Deputy Administrator Pete Marocco said in a court filing on Thursday

Carl J. Nicholsjudge

The risk posed to USAID employees who are placed on administrative leave while stationed abroad — if there is any — is far more minimal than it initially appeared."

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said in a previous statement

Nayib Bukelepresident

Most governments don't want USAID funds flowing into their countries because they understand where much of that money actually ends up. While marketed as support for development, democracy, and human rights, the majority of these funds are funneled into opposition groups, NGOs with political agendas, and destabilizing movements."

El Slavador's President Nayib Bukele earlier this month wrote on X

Concurrently, USAID is beginning to implement a Reduction-in-Force that will affect approximately 1,600 USAID personnel with duty stations in the United States,

added the email that's now posted on USAID's website

As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally,

according to the notices sent to USAID workers and viewed by The Associated Press

Carl J. Nicholsjudge

At present, the agency is still standing,

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols wrote in the ruling

CBP has signed a license agreement to occupy approximately 390,000 usable square feet in the USAID tower,

a CBP spokesperson told Fox News Digital

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has long strayed from its original mission of responsibly advancing American interests abroad, and it is now abundantly clear that significant portions of USAID funding are not aligned with the core national interests of the United States,

the State Department said in a statement

There will be no tolerance for Social Security fraud,

he declared, reiterating his commitment to overhauling federal agencies and eliminating wasteful spending

We're giving billions and billions of dollars to countries that hate us,

Trump said, justifying his administration’s move to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).