What they do in the shadows part I.: How USAID became a playground for elites

The Cold War ended, but USAID did not. Rather than being scaled back, it expanded unchecked, becoming a self-sustaining bureaucracy that existed to perpetuate itself rather than serve American interests. Its funding, once allocated to infrastructure, healthcare, and economic stability, increasingly shifted toward ideological projects that benefited Washington’s ruling class rather than those it was meant to help.
As oversight deteriorated, projects were no longer judged on effectiveness but on ideological alignment. USAID redirected resources toward political activism, social engineering, and funding networks that reinforced its own ideological bias. Instead of empowering nations to govern themselves, it sought to manipulate internal political landscapes, bypassing governments and channeling resources into organizations that aligned with Western progressive agendas.
The shift from development to ideological enforcement created an insulated bureaucracy focused on securing funding rather than delivering measurable results. Transparency took a backseat to self-preservation. Reports were written to justify continued spending, not to assess impact. The agency became a tool for Washington’s elite, with billions funneled into politically aligned NGOs, think tanks, and advocacy groups.
Among the biggest beneficiaries of this transformation were George Soros and his vast network of Open Society-linked organizations. USAID poured millions into civil society groups that aligned with Soros-backed initiatives, propping up NGOs that pushed progressive activism under the guise of democracy-building. These groups played a key role in destabilizing conservative governments, influencing elections, and shaping narratives, creating a network of shadow political operations sustained by U.S. taxpayer money.
The dysfunction within USAID eventually became too big to ignore. Years of unchecked spending, ideological overreach, and political favoritism had turned the agency into a liability rather than an asset.
Under the new Trump administration, and with Elon Musk pushing to rein in government waste through DOGE, USAID was finally shut down. The decision exposed just how deeply entrenched its corruption had been, with layers of bureaucracy shielding activists and NGOs from scrutiny for decades. As the funding dried up, more revelations surfaced, confirming what critics had long suspected—USAID had become little more than a financial arm for political elites, sustaining ideological operations under the guise of humanitarian aid.
With USAID dismantled, attention is now turning to its European counterpart. The EU’s CERV program mirrors the same failed model, funding politically aligned activist networks while stripping nations of their right to self-determination. European taxpayers are unknowingly financing ideological projects that serve Brussels’ elites rather than their own interests. Governments that dare to challenge this funding scheme are met with institutional resistance, as the EU doubles down on protecting the very system that erodes national sovereignty.
This fight is no longer just about transparency, it’s about taking back control. The money being funneled into these ideological slush funds does not belong to unaccountable bureaucrats in Washington or Brussels. It belongs to the people. The push to audit, defund, and dismantle CERV is not just about cutting waste, it’s about reclaiming sovereignty and ensuring that national governments, not distant bureaucracies, decide where public funds go.
Europe must not repeat the mistakes of the past. The lessons of USAID are clear: When institutions abandon their purpose in favor of ideological manipulation, they must fall.
The reckoning has begun.