America's adversaries cheer Trump admin's USAID teardown

Driving the news: Iran's government has seemingly welcomed the agency's overhaul and freezing U.S. foreign aid, with state media reports suggesting the moves will cut off support pro-democracy activists, AP reported.

• Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev praised Elon Musk — Trump's righthand man who has led the charge against USAID — for "trying to plug USAID's Deep Throat."
• Russian ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin praised the USAID's takedown as a "critical blow to globalism" in the right-wing outlet Arktos.
• USAID was "aimed at the worldwide imposition of liberal democracy, market economics, and human rights, while dismantling sovereign states and overthrowing regimes capable of resisting this on a global scale," he added.

The big picture: USAID — the world's single largest humanitarian donor —has historically administered programs that fight disease outbreaks, reduce poverty and provide relief to people impacted by conflicts and natural disasters.

• Since Trump returned to the White House, the agency was thrown into disarray after a funding freeze on foreign aid ground much of the humanitarian sector to a halt.

• Trump, meanwhile, railed against USAID, saying the agency was run by "radical lunatics."
• On Tuesday night it was announced that all direct hires at the agency, abroad and at home, would be placed on administrative leave by the end of Friday.

Go deeper:

• What to know about USAID, the federal agency DOGE wants to dismantle
• Where USAID funds are disbursed around the world
• What to know about Trump's freeze on foreign aid