Trump nominated Rubio to be acting head of USAID

US President Donald Trump has appointed Secretary of State Mark Rubio as acting director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and launched a review of foreign aid to the structure. The US State Department said on February 3.

"USAID has long departed from its original mission of promoting American interests abroad, and it is now clear that much of the structure's funding is not aligned with the core national interests of the state," the statement said.

Thus, to gain oversight and better understand the agency's operations, Trump appointed Marco Rubio as acting director.

In addition, the Secretary of State notified Congress about the audit of USAID's foreign aid activities with a view to possible reorganization.

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Earlier, on February 2, the US president said that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was run by "radical madmen" and that his administration was now getting rid of them.

At the same time, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested replacing the name of USAID with "Self-Help Agency" if it resumes its activities, ironically calling it an agency for interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states.

On the same day, American billionaire Ilon Musk called USAID a criminal organization that should cease to exist, adding that the agency is "a snake's nest of radical left-wing Marxists who hate America."

Prior to that, on January 20, Trump's executive order suspending Washington's development aid to other countries for 90 days was published on the White House website. After that, on January 25, Reuters reported that USAID froze programs to support foreign countries, including Ukraine, after a State Department dispatch approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.