Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett said in an interview Thursday that cutting the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) could pave the way for another 9/11-style attack.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order freezing foreign aid funding in January, while Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency worked to dismantle USAID due to spending money on projects like Peruvian transgender comic books and a transgender clinic in Vietnam. During an interview with Jamal Bryant on the podcast “Let’s Be Clear,” Crockett said that cutting USAID funding could lead to a resurgence of terrorism.
“And then people want to say, ‘Well, it’s about the money y’all sending overseas,’ not understanding that one of the reasons people haven’t been flying planes into buildings in the United States is because of our soft power,” Crockett told Bryant. “It’s because of the diplomacy that we were doing, where we were building relationships, where people would look at us and say ‘The Americans are good people.’ Because when we spend money to get medicine in their country, it don’t cost what it costs here. It costs pennies. That was helping to keep us safe here.”
Crockett accused those in power of distracting the public.
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“They have a way of making us believe in this scarcity mindset. So we have this thing where it’s like ‘Oh, if you send money over here, then I’m not getting the money that I need. So one of the things that it was easy for them to attack was USAID, because they were like ‘Oh, y’all sending all them millions over there. We could have the millions,’ not recognizing that USAID is literally not even 1% of our budget,” Crockett said. “They want you to focus on pennies. It’s a lot if it was in our bank account for show, right? But legitimately, they wanted you to focus on that and be distracted so you wouldn’t ask questions about the other 99.5% of the budget—about the money that’s going to Elon.”
Crockett drew contrast between foreign aid and defense spending, slamming the government for its trillion-dollar increase in military expenditures while, she claimed, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were receiving excessive bonuses and welfare was being slashed for Americans in need. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Legal Group Pushes For Transparency On USAID Involvement In Censorship During Biden Admin)
“Elon and Trump started to tell some truth when they started to have their little beef, right? And all of a sudden, once they was beefing and all of the truth was coming out, cause Trump was like ‘Well, we could save some money if we just cut your contracts.’ I’m like, ‘I’ve been saying that.’ Like, just cut his contracts. Yes, I’ve been saying that,” Crockett added. “We are overpaying these contracts for defense. They decided to take defense spending up a trillion dollars. They decided that every ICE agent should be entitled to at least a $42,000 bonus while these fools are going out here dragging people and doing all this kind of stuff. And then they gonna tell people ‘No, we’re going to take your health care. No, we’re going to take food away from you. No, we’re going to take your housing vouchers away.’”
Crockett’s claim that ICE agents could receive $42,000 bonuses is based on discussions surrounding proposed legislation, but the actual figures and allocations are more nuanced. The “Big Beautiful Bill,” signed into law on July 4, includes provisions for ICE to receive $8 billion to hire 10,000 new officers by 2029.
Additionally, the bill allocates $858 million for signing and retention bonuses for ICE staff. This funding is intended to support the hiring and retention of new personnel over several years, not to provide $42,000 bonuses to each existing ICE agent.
Crockett warned against being manipulated by divisive political tactics and urged people to recognize how focusing on isolated issues could lead to broader, unintended consequences.
“Don’t let them play you. Don’t let them divide you. I don’t really care what you think about the LGBTQIA community. I don’t really care what you think when it comes to abortion. I don’t really care what you think when it comes to immigration. If you allow them to cherry-pick you, then, at the end of the day, something that you do care about—one of the freedoms that you do hold dear—is going to be under attack,” Crockett said. “That’s what happens. You get that people was like ‘Oh yeah, kick them out.’ And then while they’re going and kicking them out, the farmers is like ‘Now wait a minute. I wanted you to kick certain people out, but now I’mma lose my farm.’”
“Like, I’m telling you, our fates are interlinked. So of course I care about all the things that I just said, but I’m telling you that don’t even try to convince people if they don’t agree or what. It ain’t about that. At least agree that you believe that you should be free in this country and recognize that they coming for you next.”
Crockett’s claim that cutting USAID funding could lead to another 9/11 is not substantiated by evidence. In fiscal year 2024, USAID accounted for only 0.3% of total federal spending, indicating that its reduction would have a minimal impact on national security.
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