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Elon Musk Helped Putin Push Disinformation. Now They're Helping Trump Kill Millions. [1]

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Date: 2025-05-08

At the height of the Cold War, the United States and its allies built a system, not just of alliances and treaties, but of truth. The idea was simple: autocracy thrives in the dark, and democracy requires light. That is why American foreign aid programs like USAID were not only about feeding children or rebuilding cities. They were a commitment to the idea that peace, justice, and freedom require investment. That people matter. That facts matter.

In 2024, that legacy is under siege from within.

A major Washington Post investigation has revealed a sprawling Russian disinformation campaign aimed at weakening public support for Ukraine, undermining foreign aid, and exhausting Americans into cynicism. But this time, Russia didn’t need hackers or hidden servers. It just needed Elon Musk.

Since taking over Twitter and renaming it X, Musk has made the platform a fertile ground for authoritarian propaganda. Russian operatives celebrated his ownership. Their disinformation efforts spread further and faster than before, amplified by Musk’s algorithm and made harder to trace by removing tools meant to expose bot activity and state-linked media. At the same time, Musk himself has become a key figure in pushing anti-Ukraine, anti-aid narratives. He has smeared Ukrainian leaders, mocked foreign aid, and repeatedly framed humanitarian programs as scams, all while praising or platforming some of the most extreme voices on the right.

The results have been devastating. Support for aid to Ukraine has become a partisan issue. Disinformation has flooded social media feeds. Americans who once believed in helping refugees or rebuilding postwar regions have gone quiet. And now, with Trump’s allies leading Congress, USAID is being dismantled.

USAID was never just an aid agency. It was a cornerstone of American foreign policy and a symbol of what the postwar world aspired to be. It sent medicine to HIV patients, funded education for girls in Afghanistan, and trained journalists in countries where free speech was under attack. It was the physical embodiment of Western values: compassion, cooperation, democracy.

Now it is being gutted.

Food aid pipelines have collapsed. Trauma recovery programs are shutting down. Children in famine zones are going without nourishment, not because the food does not exist, but because the will to act has been poisoned.

What we are witnessing is not a policy debate. It is the hollowing out of American moral leadership. Musk and Trump, in their own ways, have handed a megaphone to our enemies and silenced the better angels of our nature. They do not believe in the West as a shared promise. They believe in it as a trophy, a brand to be manipulated, a weapon to dominate rather than a commitment to serve.

Progressives may have complicated feelings about American power. But this is not about empire, nor is it about military intervention. This is about whether the United States still stands for decency. Whether we believe that helping people is worth doing. Whether we care that a child might die for no reason other than politics.

Putin could not have asked for better allies. Trump and Musk have done what the Kremlin could only dream of: turning Americans against the very institutions built to uphold global stability, law, and human rights.

It is tempting to feel hopeless. That is the point of disinformation—make people so tired, so cynical, so unsure of what is real, that they stop caring. But history shows us that people do care. That truth matters. That action can still change the course of events.

That is where we come in.

What You Can Do

I am a volunteer with the Alliance for American Leadership, an organization of Americans who still believe in democracy, decency, and the power of good policy. Our mission is simple: protect USAID, push back against authoritarian propaganda, and defend the postwar values our grandparents fought for.

Between now and the 2026 midterms, we are working to recruit 5,000 grassroots advocates to fight for humanitarian aid, register new Democrats, and help elect candidates who will stand up for global compassion. We are building a movement to make sure that what is happening to USAID does not go unnoticed—and that those responsible are held accountable.

We are asking for your help.

First, call your Members of Congress. The Capitol switchboard is (202) 224-3121. It will connect you to your House representative or one of your senators. You do not need to be an expert—just tell them you support humanitarian aid and oppose cuts to USAID.

Second, please consider donating to the fight. Your contribution helps fund advocacy efforts, sustain communications infrastructure, and provide tools to organizers across the country. You can give here.

And finally, if you believe that the West should still mean something, join us. Learn more, sign up for updates, and get involved at https://a4al.org

This is a fight over what kind of world we want to live in. If Musk and Trump get their way, the world becomes colder, crueler, and more dangerous. If we act, it doesn’t have to be.

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