White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has launched a scathing critique of Elon Musk over his dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), describing the process as something “no rational person” could support. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Wiles said Musk’s actions ran counter to the Trump administration’s broader goals and created a firestorm the White House could not control.
Wiles portrayed Musk’s leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as messy and poorly managed, accusing him of pursuing the “move fast and break things” approach without informing the White House until plans were already in motion. She said Musk told the administration he was dismantling USAID only after he had “already into it”.
“The challenge with Elon is keeping up with him,” Wiles said, adding that Musk is “an avowed ketamine [user]” and sleeps in a sleeping bag in the Executive Office Building during the day. She described him as an “odd, odd duck” whose eccentricities were “not helpful”.
Wiles said she was “aghast” at the USAID cuts, noting the agency had done “very good work”. She claimed that Musk shut down programmes meant to save lives, including AIDS treatment, against the president’s wishes. UN officials have warned the disruptions could lead to millions more deaths from HIV/AIDS over the next five years.
The chief of staff also revealed that President Donald Trump did not know about the cuts and “never will”, as he does not “know the details of these smallish agencies”. Musk had boasted on social media: “We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.” More than 80 per cent of the agency’s work was ended after a review led by DOGE and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
