CNN went completely unhinged after Marco Rubio made one decision that left them scrambling for excuses

The liberal media just suffered their most embarrassing meltdown of 2025.

They thought they could pressure the Trump administration into backing down from government efficiency.

But CNN went completely unhinged after Marco Rubio made one decision that left them scrambling for excuses.

CNN’s death count desperation reaches new lows

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) officially ceased operations on July 1, with the State Department absorbing foreign assistance programs that align with the Trump administration’s America First policies.¹

CNN’s response was immediate and hysterical.

The fake news network claimed the USAID closure "could contribute to 14 million deaths in the next five years."²

That number didn’t come from thin air – it came from a study that claimed funding cuts "could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030," with "nearly a third of those deaths – more than 4.5 million – estimated to be among children younger than 5."³

But here’s what makes CNN’s hysteria completely ridiculous.

In May 2025, liberal commentator Anand Giridharadas claimed on MSNBC that USAID cuts had already killed 300,000 people, citing a questionable Boston University study.¹⁷

That’s a staggering jump from 300,000 deaths to projecting 14 million deaths – representing a 4,600 percent increase in the scare tactics.

Apparently, when Democrats need bigger numbers to generate more outrage, they just keep multiplying their death counts.

Rubio exposes the truth about USAID’s massive failures

Rubio defended the USAID closure by citing extensive evidence of the agency’s decades of waste, fraud, and corruption that lined the pockets of well-connected NGO executives while advancing America’s enemies.⁴

"Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War," Rubio wrote in his announcement. "Development objectives have rarely been met, instability has often worsened, and anti-American sentiment has only grown."⁵

The numbers back up Rubio’s harsh assessment.

Sub-Saharan African nations voted with the United States only 29 percent of the time on essential UN resolutions in 2023, despite receiving $165 billion in aid since 1991.⁶

That’s the lowest rate in the world.

Meanwhile, more than $89 billion invested in the Middle East and North Africa left the U.S. with lower favorability ratings than China in every nation but Morocco.⁷

Translation: American taxpayers funded programs that made other countries hate us more.

The corrupt NGO gravy train comes to an end

The Department of Government Efficiency, backed by Elon Musk, led the investigation that exposed USAID as a center of waste and fraud.⁸

A thorough review of thousands of programs and "$715 billion in inflation-adjusted spending over the decades" revealed that USAID "fell well below" any standard of advancing American interests.⁹

The White House documented some of the most outrageous examples of USAID waste, including $1.5 million to "advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces," $70,000 for production of a "DEI musical" in Ireland, and hundreds of thousands of dollars for a non-profit linked to designated terrorist organizations.¹⁰

Rubio noted that USAID’s spending in Gaza and the West Bank directly funded radical Islamic terrorism.

"The agency’s expenditure of $9.3 billion in Gaza and the West Bank since 1991, whose beneficiaries included allies of Hamas, has produced grievances rather than gratitude towards the United States," Rubio wrote.¹¹

The corrupt scheme worked exactly as designed: "The only ones living well were the executives of the countless NGOs, who often enjoyed five-star lifestyles funded by American taxpayers, while those they purported to help fell further behind."¹²

Trump’s America First approach ends the foreign aid scam

The new Trump approach to foreign assistance emphasizes accountability and American interests abroad rather than funding America’s enemies and enriching corrupt bureaucrats.

"This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end," Rubio declared. "Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests."¹³

Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies and advance American interests will be administered by the State Department, where they’ll be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency.

The new approach will emphasize reciprocal trade relationships, not handouts that were often stolen by corrupt foreign leaders.

"[W]here there was once a rainbow of unidentifiable logos on life-saving aid, there will now be one recognizable symbol: the American flag," Rubio wrote. "Recipients deserve to know the assistance provided to them is not a handout from an unknown NGO, but an investment from the American people."¹⁴

He described the philosophy as "prioritizing trade over aid, opportunity over dependency, and investment over assistance."

A senior State Department official told CNN that "a lot of these sort of studies are based on incorrect assumptions about what Secretary Rubio intends to and has done before."¹⁵

The official noted that "a lot of the life-saving work that we do will continue and will be made more efficient."

Critics can’t defend the indefensible

Former President Barack Obama called the dismantling of USAID "inexplicable" and "a colossal mistake," while former President George W. Bush questioned cuts to AIDS prevention programs during a closed video conference event.¹⁶

But critics of USAID’s closure have no response to the agency’s abysmal track record of failure and corruption.

They can’t explain why American taxpayers should fund programs that make foreign countries hate America more.

They can’t justify spending billions on corrupt NGO executives living five-star lifestyles while the people they claim to help get worse off.

And they certainly can’t defend funneling money to Hamas allies and terrorist organizations.

CNN’s hysterical reaction shows they know the Trump administration is right to shut down this corrupt money-laundering operation disguised as humanitarian aid.

The only question is why it took so long.

Sources:

1. CNN Politics, "Rubio hails end of USAID as study says its elimination could contribute to 14 million deaths in next 5 years," July 1, 2025
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. The White House, "At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep," February 20, 2025
5. CNN Politics, "Rubio hails end of USAID," July 1, 2025
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. CNN Politics, "Rubio says Trump administration canceling 83% of programs at USAID," March 10, 2025
9. The National Pulse, "The USAID ‘NGO Industrial Complex’ Is Officially Over," July 1, 2025
10. The White House, "At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep," February 20, 2025
11. CNN Politics, "Rubio hails end of USAID," July 1, 2025
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Reuters, "As USAID stops foreign aid, Rubio says future US assistance will be limited," July 1, 2025
17. Townhall, "The Latest DOGE Hoax Just Dropped," May 31, 2025