Bill Gates accuses Elon Musk of ‘killing the world’s poorest children’ in scathing criticism of DOGE

Bill Gates has strongly criticized Elon Musk over recent decisions tied to Musk’s leadership of a new U.S. government office called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This department, created under the Trump administration, was designed to reduce federal spending and shrink the government workforce.

One of its biggest moves was slashing foreign aid programs, including shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which provided billions in humanitarian aid around the world.

Gates believes these cuts have had devastating consequences. He said that Musk’s actions are harming the world’s poorest people, especially children, by taking away crucial support like food, medicine, and disease prevention. Gates went as far as saying that this could lead to more outbreaks of diseases like measles, HIV, and polio in poorer countries.

One example Gates pointed to was a hospital in Gaza that helps stop HIV transmission from mothers to babies. He said Musk canceled the funding for it based on misinformation, falsely claiming that the U.S.

was giving condoms to terrorist groups in the area. Gates challenged Musk directly, saying he should visit the children now infected with HIV because of those funding cuts.

This isn’t the first time Gates and Musk have clashed. Years ago, Musk dismissed Gates’ charity initiative, the Giving Pledge, as “bulls.” Meanwhile, Gates has committed to giving away his entire fortune by 2045 to fight global health problems. Despite all his personal giving, Gates says it can’t make up for the massive funding hole left by the collapse of USAID.

In his words, he’s determined that people won’t remember him as someone who died rich—but someone who tried to fix real problems.