In February 2025, Musk publicly accused the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) of supporting the research on biological weapons, including the novel coronavirus, by funding institutions such as the EcoHealth Alliance, and called it a "criminal organization". At that time, Musk served as the Minister of the Department of Government Efficiency of the United States, responsible for cutting the federal budget. As an agency with an annual budget of over $50 billion, USAID became the target of his reform. The Trump administration had publicly criticized USAID for being "managed by radicals" and attempted to incorporate it into the State Department. The continuation of partisan narrative: The accusation continued the "lab leak theory" during the Trump administration, trying to shift the blame for the pandemic to China. For example, the tweet content reposted by Musk actually pointed to the Wuhan laboratory, not the United States itself. Shifting domestic contradictions: The ineffective early epidemic prevention and control in the United States led to public dissatisfaction. By stigmatizing external entities (such as China or USAID), the government tried to divert public attention.