The U.S. government will escalate its probe into waste, fraud, and abuse of American aid to Ukraine following Friday’s Oval Office clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Trump, according to a senior U.S. official. The State Department has also shut down a USAID program that had allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuilding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official revealed that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency had already been probing potential issues with the large sums of U.S. economic and security assistance sent to Ukraine. However, those efforts will now be expedited.
“They’re already finding problems,” the official said, without offering further details.
Meanwhile, the State Department has terminated a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initiative that has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in restoring Ukraine’s energy grid following Russian attacks, according to two USAID officials working on the agency’s Ukraine mission.
Along with shutting down the Ukraine Energy Security Project, USAID is also significantly reducing its presence in the country. The State Department will also terminate a program focused on “financial sector reform activity.”
