Sarah Jacobson

Elon Musk says that no one has died because he slashed humanitarian aid. I went to South Sudan to check if that's true. It's not. Within an hour of starting interviews, I had the names of a 10-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl who had died because of decisions by wealthy men in Washington. The visit that moved me the most was to a remote area that used to have no health care, where women routinely died in childbirth. Then a US-funded maternity clinic opened through @UNFPA in December, and not one woman has died since. I showed up, and people mistakenly thought I was responsible for the clinic. One new mom wanted to name her baby for me, and the village elders thanked me and hailed America's generosity. What they didn't know was that Trump/Musk had cut all funding for UNFPA and that as a result the maternity clinic will close this month, and women will once again be bleeding to death in the dust. Here's a giftlink to my report from ground level about what the shutdown of USAID means: nytimes.com/interactive/2025…

Yes, USAID could use reform, but this is demolition. Trump braids together cruelty, ignorance and shortsightedness, and calls it policy, as the world's richest men go after the worlds poorest children. My column: nytimes.com/2025/02/05/opini…