Rubio confirms he is new acting USAID administrator, amid Trump's effort to throttle agency

As of now, President Donald Trump has not confirmed whether or not the agency is shutting down.

Published: February 3, 2025 11:55am

Updated: February 3, 2025 1:58pm

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Monday that he is now the acting administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

He confirmed the change during an overseas trip to El Salvador. 

“There are a lot of functions of USAID that are going to continue, that are going to be part of American foreign policy, but it has to be aligned with American foreign policy,” he also said during a press conference in El Salvador

The change follows billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who leads the Trump administration's  Department of Government Efficiency, saying he and President Trump are going to close the agency. 

“We’re shutting it down,” Musk reportedly said earlier Monday in an audio conversation on X Spaces, part of the social media platform X. “With regards to the USAID stuff, I went over it with [the president] in detail and he agreed that we should shut it down.”

However, Trump had not confirmed by Monday afternoon that he was shuttering the agency. 

The Facts Inside Our Reporter's Notebook

Unlock unlimited access

  • No Ads Within Stories
  • No Autoplay Videos
  • VIP access to exclusive Just the News newsmaker events hosted by John Solomon and his team.
  • Support the investigative reporting and honest news presentation you've come to enjoy from Just the News.
  • Just the News Spotlight

    Support Just the News