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3471Billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk are in an escalating public feud, with Gates accusing Musk of endangering the lives of the world’s poorest children and Musk firing back, calling Gates “a huge liar.”
The tension centers on Musk’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through his Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
The move has resulted in steep foreign aid cuts, which health officials say are already causing widespread harm.
Gates Says Musk Is Operating on Ignorance
“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates told the Financial Times.
He added that Musk’s actions, including the cancellation of grants to hospitals treating HIV-positive mothers in Mozambique, were based on false assumptions and ignorance.
Gates claimed Musk mistakenly believed that U.S. aid was being used to supply condoms to Hamas, after confusing Gaza Province in Mozambique with the Gaza Strip in the Middle East, an error that, according to the Financial Times, Musk later admitted by saying, “some of the things that I say will be incorrect.”
In response to a viral post quoting Gates’ remarks, Musk responded on X: “Gates is a huge liar.”
Musk Denies Cuts Hurt HIV Programs
At the Qatar Economic Forum, Musk denied that his administration had defunded HIV/AIDS programs.
“First of all, the program, the AIDS medication program, is continuing. So, your fundamental premise is wrong. It is continuing,” Musk said during an interview.
Dr. Angeli Achrekar, a senior official at UNAIDS and former Pepfar official, said the effects of the aid cuts were immediate and devastating.
“There were thousands of healthcare workers and community health workers, laboratorians and data clerks, for example, that immediately stopped work,” she said.
“It’s not like you just turn on the light switch and all of a sudden these services start up again.”
“Which ones aren’t being funded? I’ll fix it right now,” Musk added. “If in fact this is true, which I doubt it is, then we’ll fix it.”
Gates: ‘Millions More Deaths’ Expected
Despite Musk’s claims that he’ll fix any issues immediately, Gates warned that the damage has already begun. In an interview with Reuters, he said, “The number of deaths will start going up for the first time… it’s going to be millions more deaths because of the resources.”
Gates, who has pledged to give away almost all of his fortune, said his foundation will spend $200 billion on global health and development by 2045, then shut down. He noted, however, that philanthropy can’t replace government funding.
“There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people,” Gates wrote on his blog.
History of Clashing Visions
The feud isn’t new. The two billionaires have clashed for years over philanthropy and priorities.
Gates once criticized Musk’s obsession with colonizing Mars, saying he should focus more on solving problems here on Earth.
“He’s overboard on Mars,” he said.
As the Trump administration remains quiet on the future of Pepfar and broader aid policy, millions of lives hang in the balance.
For now, the war of words between two of the world’s most powerful men shows no signs of cooling off.
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