Bill Gates criticizes Musk for DOGE cuts: 'World’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children'

Bill Gates on Thursday slammed Elon Musk over funding cuts his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) made to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), accusing the "world's richest man" of hurting the "world's poorest children.”

The department suggested closing the agency down in February, and the Trump administration has reduced much of its funding in recent months, including funding for the World Food Program in the Middle East.

“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,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a press conference in El Salvador in February after the agency was added to his portfolio. 

Gates, who also announced he would be winding his foundation down by 2045, said Musk's actions were made out of ignorance, and that the pace of the cuts could cause the resurgence of diseases like measles, HIV and polio.

“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates told the Financial Times. “I’d love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money."

The two have clashed in the past, with Musk allegedly telling Gates in 2012 that commercial solutions to problems like climate change were more effective than philanthropy. 

Gates said that he plans to wind down his foundation over the next 20 years, and spend all of his massive fortune, which is projected at $200 billion by 2045. Gates said the surge in spending was to have maximum impact on things like global health.

“It gives us clarity,” he said. “We’ll have a lot more money because we’re spending down over the 20 years, as opposed to making an effort to be a perpetual foundation.”

The billionaire said he will leave less than one percent of his wealth to his children.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.