Bill Gates ‘worried’ about scaling back USAID: ‘You could have literally millions of deaths’

Musk and Trump have taken steps to scale back the US Agency for International Development (USAID)

Bill Gates told the co-hosts of “The View” on Tuesday that he was worried about Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s efforts to scale back USAID, and said it could lead to “millions of deaths.”

Microsoft founder Bill Gates told the co-hosts of “The View” on Tuesday that he was worried about potentially scaling back the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and that it could result in “literally millions of deaths.”

“Well, Elon, his private sector work, you know, has been very innovative, really fantastic. A lot of private sector people, when they get into government they don’t take the time necessarily to see what the good work is or why it’s structured the way it is, so I’m a little worried, particularly with this USAID stuff,” Gates said.

Gates responded to a question from co-host Sara Haines about Elon Musk’s role on the U.S. government.

“My foundation partners with USAID on nutrition and getting vaccines out and, you know, there’s incredible people. You know, they’re not actually worms that work there. So, you know, hopefully we’ll get some of that work back in shape. In fact, if we don’t, you know, you could have literally millions of deaths,” Gates added.

Bill Gates expressed concern over scaling back USAID on Tuesday. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)

“So, with aid, people think, you know, wow, how much do we give to these countries, as you said, it’s less than a percent. People think it’s 5%, and it should be 2%, but it’s actually under 1%,” he added.

USAID staffers were told in an email that its Washington headquarters would be closed to staffers Monday, two sources confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Some staffers reported getting locked out of the USAID computer systems overnight, according to The Associated Press. People who remained in the system got emails stating that “at the direction of Agency leadership,” the headquarters facility “will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3.”

Musk took aim at USAID on his social media platform X, writing, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.”

‘A lot of private sector people, when they get into government they don’t take the time necessarily to see what the good work is or why it’s structured the way it is,” Gates said on ’The View.’ (Hou Yu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

Gates said he would do his best to work with Trump during an interview with the New York Times.

“I always thought of Silicon Valley as being left of center,” Gates told The New York Times. “The fact that now there is a significant right-of-center group is a surprise to me.”

Gates also spoke to The Wall Street Journal about his meeting with the president, and said he left the meeting impressed.

“I felt like he was energized and looking forward to helping to drive innovation,” Gates told the WSJ. “I was frankly impressed with how well he showed a lot of interest in the issues I brought up.”