By David Shepardson and Chris Sanders WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Billionaire Elon Musk, who is heading U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to shrink the federal government, gave an update on the effort early Monday,

Elon Musk called USAID a criminal organization that should “die.” Proponents say it’s a key arm of U.S. influence that, if destroyed, “cannot be easily rebuilt.”

Musk, CEO of X (formerly Twitter), has been on a posting spree, using his platform to justify and denigrate his takeover of USAID. He’s called the agency " evil ," a " criminal organization ," and a "viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America."