In a striking revelation published this week, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said she was shocked and deeply troubled by Elon Musk’s sweeping cuts to the United States Agency for International Development, describing the process as something “no rational person” could support.

According to an extensive interview, Wiles said that when Musk, acting under the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, moved aggressively to dismantle USAID, she was initially “aghast.” She defended the work of the agency, long a pillar of America’s humanitarian and development efforts abroad, and said its abrupt evisceration was handled in a way she did not endorse.

The dismantling, which saw key USAID functions paused or canceled and a move to fold the agency into the State Department, ignited intense debate within the administration about the scope of federal foreign assistance and its global impact.

Wiles’s comments highlight internal tensions over the strategy and underscore concerns from former agency supporters about the far-reaching humanitarian consequences of the cuts.

While she acknowledged the broader cost-cutting mission that Musk was tasked with leading, she said the approach to USAID was misplaced and poorly executed, underlining a critical difference in perspective between senior White House leadership and the billionaire executive who briefly wielded significant influence.

Her remarks add to ongoing discussions about the role of foreign aid in U.S. foreign policy and the administration’s efforts to redefine it amid broader government reforms.