Billionaire Bill Gates reflected in an interview on NBC’s “TODAY” show this morning on his recent meeting with Trump, Elon Musk and Musk’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Gates, whose foundation works to improve the lives of people in developing countries, said he told Trump at their meeting at Mar-a-Lago before the inauguration, “We both believe in saving lives.” Trump seemed “receptive” in the meeting, he said.
“TODAY” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie noted that just a few weeks later, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, and that Musk is trying to shut down USAID.
Asked if he thinks Trump was placating him, Gates said, “I’m still hopeful. You know, I think all Americans can agree that keeping people alive for very little money. We should be proud of that. It started back with President Bush. There’s some disruption going on now, and I want to engage positively to get things back on track.”
Asked about whether he’s comfortable with the amount of power Musk has, Gates said he admires the tech billionaire’s work in the private sector, but he said in the case of USAID, “He doesn’t appreciate the phenomenal work that goes on. It’s not partisan work.”
“It’s nutrition,” Gates said as an example. “I give billions of dollars to the same thing that USAID does. I go out in the field and study these things.”
Gates said if Musk really understood USAID’s activities, he wouldn’t be telling its employees not to do that work.