State Department Divide Breaks Open Between Establishment, MAGA Loyalists Over USAID Cuts

State Department Divide Breaks Open Between Establishment, MAGA Loyalists Over USAID Cuts

Reagan Reese

White House Correspondent

April 16, 20257:14 PM ET

Inside the State Department, a battle is brewing over how to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Trump administration officials tell the Daily Caller the State Department is divided into two factions, between those primarily loyal to the president and those aligned with moderate Republican senators who are dovish on USAID cuts. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been under pressure from his former Senate colleagues not to fully dismantle USAID and did not initially want to take on the task when requested by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), multiple Trump administration officials told the Caller.

Once upon a time, before the Cold War ended, I was raised by my family to love USAID because “trust me son, it’s all CIA guys doing anti-commie propaganda.”

I cannot emphasize enough how much that mission instantly and radically altered during the Clinton years. Corruption now. https://t.co/M8buWo6HE2