Musk accuses 18 US Islamic charities of being ‘terror orgs’

Billionaire Elon Musk has accused the US Agency for International Development (USAID) of supporting terrorism by funding 18 charitable organisations, foundations and institutions linked to Islam, Arabs or simply ones with Arabic-sounding names. 

Musk, who heads up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the administration of US President Donald Trump, reshared a tweet claiming that the USAID allocated $165 million to the organisation that are falsely accused of being “terrorist organizations”, adding: “As many have said, why are we paying terrorist organizations and certain countries to hate us?”

“The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) gave $164.7 million to these organizations linked to terrorism,” repeating, “165 million… Thanks to the Government Efficiency Administration for coming in and uncovering all this madness,” the original tweet, posted by a Republican Party supporter, read.

The post included a financial expenditure breakdown for these organisations, none of which have ever been linked or even investigated for connections to terrorism. However, Musk, who owns X, reshared the tweet and endorsed it, with his repost viewed by approximately 13 million people and retweeted around 48,000 times.

Musk has labelled these organisations as “terrorist” simply because their names included the words “Islam”, “Islamic”, or “Palestine”, as well as those with Arabic names.

USAID collaborates with various agencies, foundations, and charitable organisations to implement its programmes worldwide. These organisations, all officially recognised and accredited, receive funding to carry out development and humanitarian work.

Many of them play a crucial role within US civil society, providing services to impoverished communities, offering medical treatment, and delivering humanitarian aid domestically. Some also extend their charitable work internationally.

Organisations listed in the disinformation tweet include the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, Islamic Action Network, the Arab American Institute and the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.

This is not the first time Elon Musk has spread false information regarding Arabs and Muslims.

Last month, he reshared a tweet claiming that $50 million was being spent on condoms for people in Gaza and alleged that the money was going to Hamas. When it was later proven that these funds were not going to Gaza but rather to another location in Africa, Musk responded during a White House press conference, saying that he “will make mistakes, and there will be errors in his statements.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Musk’s claims as false allegations. In a statement, CAIR asserted that the Muslim and Arab American organisations being defamed in these posts are legally registered non-profit organisations with the same right to apply for federal funding as any other qualified charity. The statement also highlighted that many of these non-profits had partnered with the government or received federal support during Trump’s first administration.

CAIR emphasized: “Anyone who sees the word ‘Islam’ in the name of an American charity and immediately declares that it must be a ‘terrorist organization’ is simply prejudiced and clearly knows nothing about American Muslims and their contributions to our society, including their humanitarian work.”

The group called on Musk to stop defaming American Muslims and instead focus on “recovering the billions of US taxpayer dollars that the Israeli government has used to slaughter and kill tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children in Gaza.”

CAIR’s National Executive Director, Nihad Awad, stated: “Labeling law-abiding American Islamic organizations as ‘terrorist’ without any basis is reckless and dangerous.” He added that “this kind of rhetoric fuels Islamophobia, endangers innocent lives, and undermines the values of justice and equality.”

Musk is known for his wider links to Islamophobic groups and conspiracy theories. Earlier this year, he made the headlines when he repeated fake news about so-called ‘Islamic’ grooming gangs in the UK, as well as endorsing the imprisoned far-right British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson.

More recently, Musk spoke to supporters of the far-right Islamophobic Alliance for Deutschland (AfD).