As the Trump administration slashes USAID programs and staff, are the claims about waste and corruption true?

Editor's note: Due to a scheduling change, this segment did not air on Feb. 17, 2025, as planned. 

Claims about waste, corruption and incompetence at the United States Agency for International Development — coming from Elon Musk, President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others — have been fast and furious, as the agency and its programs are being slashed and dismantled.

But fact-checking by multiple agencies shows that many of those claims are either misleading, only partially accurate, or completely false. In some cases, the programs pinpointed were not funded by USAID, in others, the goals of the programs have been misrepresented.

Factcheck.org reporter Saranac Spencer joins Here & Now to tick through some of the claims.