Five minutes ago, most Americans didn't even know what USAID was, but it has quickly become the topic du jour following President Donald Trump's radical reformation of the agency. 

As RedState reported, the Department of Government Efficiency first began cleaning house on Friday, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio then taking over the role of acting director on Monday. Tens of billions of dollars in grants have been frozen as the Trump administration attempts to sort through the mountain of left-wing priorities inappropriately funded by USAID. 

To say Democrats and their press allies were upset would be an understatement. Nothing seems to incense the left more than stopping the federal government from wasting taxpayer money overseas. Politicians who never said a word about the lack of funding for Hurricane Helene victims rushed to the podium to decry how "cruel" and "dangerous" it is to stop funding abortions in the Gaza Strip, among other insane wastes of money.

JUST IN: Rep. Ilhan Omar goes on an unhinged rant claiming that Trump is a dictator because he’s trying to save money and get rid of government corruption.

"We talked about Trump wanting to be a dictator on day one, and here we are. This is what the beginning of dictatorship… pic.twitter.com/DbBYCXNjhD

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 3, 2025

Of course, no one screaming bloody murder will admit the truth about USAID. Rather, they claim that the agency is doing incredible work for the poor and promoting America's standing across the globe through "soft power." To be clear, though, USAID is not a charity. It is not even an "aid" organization (that's not what "AID" stands for in the name). It is a slush fund that has been used by radical leftists to push their priorities throughout the world, whether that be social engineering, election interference, or working to outright overthrow other governments.

SEE: USAID Flacks Have Been Given Their Talking Points, Including a Fox News Reporter

When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt faced the press on Monday, she was faced with the same talking points about the importance of USAID. What the reporters weren't prepared for was for her to bring the receipts, detailing exactly what taxpayer money has been wasted on. 

Need more evidence USAID was a big money laundering scheme? Listen to @PressSec list a few places they spent your $.

$1.5M for DEI in Serbia
$70K for a DEI musical in Ireland
$47K for a trans opera in Colombia
$32K for a trans book in Peru

There are thousands of these examples. pic.twitter.com/xyRYZs8Cgx

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) February 3, 2025

LEAVITT: Here's the reason Elon Musk and others have been taking a look because if you look at the waste and abuse that has been run through USAID over the years, these are some of the insane priorities that that organization has been spending money on. 

1.5 million dollars to advance DEI in Serbia's workplaces. $70,000 for a production of a DEI musical in Ireland. $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia. $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru. I don't know about you, but as an American taxpayer, I don't want my dollars going towards this crap, and I know the American people don't either, and that's exactly what Elon Musk has been tasked by President Trump to do. To get the fraud, waste, and abuse out of our federal government.

Now ask yourself, what possible benefit to America's standing could come from promoting DEI in Serbia or paying for a transgender comic book in Peru? And that's assuming the money even went to those things. To be frank, many of the grants given out by USAID sound so ridiculous that it would make more sense for them to just be money laundering operations. 

In other words, this idea that USAID is incredibly vital to America's projection of power is backed by essentially nothing by the deranged claims of Democrat politicians and left-wing reporters. Here's the thing, though. Even if USAID has done some good things in the past, it can't continue to operate given the level of corruption present. Those who claim it's important should have thought about that before allowing it to devolve into a bastion of waste and fraud. They didn't do that, though, choosing to abuse it instead. Well, that has consequences, and those are playing out right now.