President Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been simultaneously serving as acting administrator of USAID, announced on Tuesday that “USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance.”
Billionaire Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist known for his global efforts to eradicate transmissible diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and polio, and HIV, responded: “The facts are simple and devastating: Aid cuts have already cost lives, and the number of deaths will continue to rise.”
Gates added a plea: “To me, this is the most remarkable thing about global health: With a relatively small amount of money, you can do a great deal of good for a great many people. This is money well spent, and we should go back to spending it—now.”
To me, this is the most remarkable thing about global health: With a relatively small amount of money, you can do a great deal of good for a great many people. This is money well spent, and we should go back to spending it—now.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) July 3, 2025
In December, Gates met with then president-elect Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago estate and said he encouraged the President to keep America’s aid and relief programs for HIV including the PEPFAR program which “keeps over ten million people alive with HIV medicines.”
In February, Trump allowed the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, to begin to dismantle the USAID which oversaw the PEPFAR program, among others. As seen below, Musk bragged about “feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”
We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.
Could gone to some great parties.
Did that instead. https://t.co/0V35nacICW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
With the visual aid below (which based on 2024 fiscal data provided by KFF and the US Treasury), Gates noted: “Health aid is a small piece of America’s foreign aid, which is itself a small piece of the federal budget. In 2023, the US spent less than one percent of the federal budget on lifesaving global health programs.”
Health aid is a small piece of America’s foreign aid, which is itself a small piece of the federal budget. In 2023, the US spent less than one percent of the federal budget on lifesaving global health programs: https://t.co/QaTuRs6PQe pic.twitter.com/La7oeJWJfh
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) July 3, 2025
According to a new report published by the medical journal The Lancet, an estimate of “14 million people around the globe could die over the next five years because of the USAID cuts” made by the Trump administration, “including about 4.5 million children younger than 5.”
With the data from The Lancet report, Gates testified before Congress in June. He said: “So when the United States and other governments suddenly cut their aid budgets the way they’ve been doing, I know for a fact that more children will die. We’re already seeing the tragic impact of reductions in aid, and we know the number of deaths will continue to rise.”
Note: Prior to both the Senate and House passing Trump’s reconciliation bill this week, Gates shared a video of Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) arguing in favor of PEPFAR at the Senate Appropriations hearing on rescissions.
It’s not too late to change course. https://t.co/w4vD15se6I
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) June 26, 2025
Collins said PEPFAR “remains a bipartisan priority of Congress” and emphasized that cutting “funding aimed at preventing disease transmission would be extraordinarily ill-advised and short-sighted.”
Gates added, “It’s not too late to change course.”
On Tuesday, Collins was one of three Republican Senators to vote against the bill; the others were Sens. Rand Paul (KY) and Thom Tillis (NC). The bill passed (51-50) with the help of Vice President JD Vance‘s tiebreaking vote.