Democratic Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett claimed Thursday that cutting foreign aid — specifically through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — could pave the way for another 9/11-style terror attack.
The remark came during an interview on the Let’s Be Clear podcast, where she argued that diplomatic programs like USAID play a crucial role in maintaining global goodwill and preventing terrorism through “soft power.”
Crockett’s comments follow President Donald Trump’s executive order freezing foreign aid and directing the dismantling of USAID. The move, supported by the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk, stems from concerns about wasteful spending on projects unrelated to U.S. interests — including funding for Peruvian transgender comic books and a transgender clinic in Vietnam.
“They want you to focus on pennies,” Crockett said, noting that USAID makes up less than 1% of the federal budget. She claimed the administration is using the cut to distract from larger spending priorities — particularly defense and private sector contracts.
The congresswoman argued that foreign aid buys international goodwill and cooperation, helping to reduce the threat of terrorism. “One of the reasons people haven’t been flying planes into buildings in the United States is because of our soft power,” she said, asserting that small investments in aid create outsized safety benefits for Americans.
Crockett also launched into a broader criticism of federal budget priorities, falsely claiming that ICE agents are receiving $42,000 bonuses while low-income Americans see their benefits slashed. In reality, the recently passed “Big Beautiful Bill” authorizes $858 million over multiple years for ICE hiring and retention — not flat-rate bonuses of $42,000 per agent. The funding aims to support a workforce expansion of 10,000 officers by 2029.
The bill also includes $8 billion in new funding for ICE, a point of contention for critics who argue that defense and enforcement spending has ballooned at the expense of social programs.
Crockett’s suggestion that ending USAID could trigger another 9/11 is not supported by available evidence. USAID accounted for just 0.3% of federal spending in fiscal year 2024.
While some in the foreign policy community argue that aid can help stabilize regions and build alliances, linking its reduction directly to a large-scale domestic terror attack remains speculative and lacks a firm analytical basis.