Those estimates are highly disputed because they all come from modeled projections, not anything attributed on the ground.
If a death toll like that was real and attributable it would be the only thing in the news, 24/7, until the next election.
The fact is, it’s not. Aid was relocated to other departments and continued. Significant insider pork was cut leading to a lot of very loud people complaining with hyperbole in their outrage.
Elon remains the most effective person in history at wielding wealth for the benefit of mankind. It is not particularly close and he has banked more credibility for moon-shot efforts (pun intended) than anyone on the planet.
> The fact is, it’s not. Aid was relocated to other departments and continued.
Source?
All the recent data I can find shows a more than 80% decline in global food aid, education, and vaccinations, as of February 2026.
Education aid for 23 million children, 95 million lost access to basic healthcare, and from March 2025 to Feb 2026, an estimated ~3 million preventable deaths caused by this.
Sources: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/making-foreign-a...
https://firstfocus.org/resource/fact-sheet-usaid-cuts-total-...
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/chikungunya/quick-takes-death-tol...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/04/africa-trump...
https://www.rescue.org/article/innovation-vs-cuts-humanitari...