Susan Glasser

Yeah, I mean, first of all, I think you're really right to underscore that this isn't about cost cutting. And, you know, if you wanted to do what Elon Musk stated purpose was of reviewing the government and looking for areas for efficiency and savings, The last agency that you would focus on is USAID, considering what a minuscule part of the American federal budget it was. We're talking under 1%.

Yeah, I mean, first of all, I think you're really right to underscore that this isn't about cost cutting. And, you know, if you wanted to do what Elon Musk stated purpose was of reviewing the government and looking for areas for efficiency and savings, The last agency that you would focus on is USAID, considering what a minuscule part of the American federal budget it was. We're talking under 1%.

Yeah, I mean, first of all, I think you're really right to underscore that this isn't about cost cutting. And, you know, if you wanted to do what Elon Musk stated purpose was of reviewing the government and looking for areas for efficiency and savings, The last agency that you would focus on is USAID, considering what a minuscule part of the American federal budget it was. We're talking under 1%.

So you could eliminate every single program and it would make literally zero impact on the overall US government spending. So it's not about spending. Let's stipulate that. Even ideologically, it seems very much at odds with what many Republicans, including the feckless Marco Rubio, were advocating for.

So you could eliminate every single program and it would make literally zero impact on the overall US government spending. So it's not about spending. Let's stipulate that. Even ideologically, it seems very much at odds with what many Republicans, including the feckless Marco Rubio, were advocating for.

So you could eliminate every single program and it would make literally zero impact on the overall US government spending. So it's not about spending. Let's stipulate that. Even ideologically, it seems very much at odds with what many Republicans, including the feckless Marco Rubio, were advocating for.

They always wanted to spend more money on this kind of programs that were smartly extending American power in the world at a time when so much of our presence is militarized. You know, it's the leaders in the Pentagon who will tell you for decades that this was a much more effective method of promoting American power. And many of these programs, of course, were canceled so abruptly.

They always wanted to spend more money on this kind of programs that were smartly extending American power in the world at a time when so much of our presence is militarized. You know, it's the leaders in the Pentagon who will tell you for decades that this was a much more effective method of promoting American power. And many of these programs, of course, were canceled so abruptly.

They always wanted to spend more money on this kind of programs that were smartly extending American power in the world at a time when so much of our presence is militarized. You know, it's the leaders in the Pentagon who will tell you for decades that this was a much more effective method of promoting American power. And many of these programs, of course, were canceled so abruptly.

It's Elon Musk literally sort of taking the knife to many of the poorest people in the world, themselves victims of, you know, previous efforts to protect American power, like you mentioned, the American people. The Agent Orange. And, you know, I just I think it tells you very much about Trump's approach to the world, which is my way and everybody else be damned.

It's Elon Musk literally sort of taking the knife to many of the poorest people in the world, themselves victims of, you know, previous efforts to protect American power, like you mentioned, the American people. The Agent Orange. And, you know, I just I think it tells you very much about Trump's approach to the world, which is my way and everybody else be damned.

It's Elon Musk literally sort of taking the knife to many of the poorest people in the world, themselves victims of, you know, previous efforts to protect American power, like you mentioned, the American people. The Agent Orange. And, you know, I just I think it tells you very much about Trump's approach to the world, which is my way and everybody else be damned.

And I think it's it's notable that many of the victims of this are the world's poorest and most vulnerable. I think that's similar in the approach to how they're carrying out the immigration thing. There was a piece today, which I definitely appreciate.

And I think it's it's notable that many of the victims of this are the world's poorest and most vulnerable. I think that's similar in the approach to how they're carrying out the immigration thing. There was a piece today, which I definitely appreciate.

And I think it's it's notable that many of the victims of this are the world's poorest and most vulnerable. I think that's similar in the approach to how they're carrying out the immigration thing. There was a piece today, which I definitely appreciate.

recommend to your listeners in The Times, seeking to, you know, talk to some of the victims of sort of the mass dragnet of deportations that are happening, apparently without regard to who's caught up in it. And they're now housing some of these people in hotels in Panama. They're shipping them to Panama, including...

recommend to your listeners in The Times, seeking to, you know, talk to some of the victims of sort of the mass dragnet of deportations that are happening, apparently without regard to who's caught up in it. And they're now housing some of these people in hotels in Panama. They're shipping them to Panama, including...

recommend to your listeners in The Times, seeking to, you know, talk to some of the victims of sort of the mass dragnet of deportations that are happening, apparently without regard to who's caught up in it. And they're now housing some of these people in hotels in Panama. They're shipping them to Panama, including...

this image that I'm going to have a hard time getting out of my mind, Tim, of a woman desperately trying to open the window and escape from this locked room in Panama where she had been taken. She sees reporters down below on the street. So she writes on a sign, Afghan, holds it up, and then pantomimes what appears to be an airplane and then her being killed.

this image that I'm going to have a hard time getting out of my mind, Tim, of a woman desperately trying to open the window and escape from this locked room in Panama where she had been taken. She sees reporters down below on the street. So she writes on a sign, Afghan, holds it up, and then pantomimes what appears to be an airplane and then her being killed.