Nicholas Kristof argues that cuts to U.S. humanitarian aid under Trump and Elon Musk have left the world exposed to a fast‑spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The administration’s decision to slash USAID funding eliminated a critical presence in Ituri, where the virus first emerged, and halted programs that had previously saved a life every ten seconds worldwide.

With the Bundibugyo strain hitting remote villages, delayed detection allowed cases to swell from dozens to several hundred, making this the third‑worst Ebola event on record. Former CDC director Tom Frieden warned that each week of inaction adds months of transmission. The U.S. withdrawal from the WHO and blocked communication further slowed response, leaving American officials unaware until nine days after the agency.

Budget cuts also gutted funding for GAVI and threatened PEPFAR, programs that finance vaccine development and AIDS treatment. Analysts estimate the aid reductions have already cost more than 750,000 lives globally, a figure that includes preventable malaria deaths and starvation. Kristof concludes that the politicized dismantling of aid infrastructure has directly amplified the Ebola threat and eroded U.S. health security.