Elon Musk stated that he spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.
Posted by Deadline: White House, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 93%
Deadline: White HouseOct 20, 2026
Musk's February 3, 2025 X post, which the sources quote directly, says "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper," so the claim that he stated it is supported. The post wording is "We" rather than "I", a minor difference that does not change the substance.
What was said
… Of course, he didn't, because he knows very well, and indeed, Musk was warned in advance of those USAID cuts that they would have disastrous mortal consequences, and he went ahead and did it anyway, and did it as if it was a kind of video game, because he said, I spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Well, the only thing that really went into the wood chipper were the lives of hundreds of thousands of children for the world's most vulnerable. Alex Gibney, it is incredibly important. Thank you so much for joining us here to talk about it. …
Deadline: White House · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The archived X post from Musk on February 3, 2025 reads "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could gone to some great parties. Did that instead."[5]
Supports. The Hill and Snopes both report that Musk posted the wood chipper comment on X on February 3, 2025, quoting it directly.[1][4]
Supports. PolitiFact reports that Musk boasted on February 3 that DOGE had fed "USAID into the wood chipper."[2]
Context. The AP notes Musk bragged "Spent the weekend feeding USAID into a wood chipper," and later sources such as Democracy Now and a 2026 memoir refer to the same post, which confirms the statement but adds no new evidence.[3][6][7]
Sources
7 sources: 3 fact-checkers, 1 tier 1, 3 not rated
- 1What to know about Trump, Musk and the dismantling of ...snopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Trump and Musk's public attacks on each other add to ...politifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 3Elon Musk came to Washington wielding a chain saw. He ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 4‘We are terrified’: Musk puts USAID through ‘wood chipper’thehill.com · tier 1 · cited for: supports
- 5We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood ...x.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6“Into the Wood Chipper”: Whistleblower's Inside Story of ...democracynow.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 7What happened when the Trump administration ended USAID? | TPRtpr.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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