USAID headquarters in Washington will be closed on Monday, with employees normally assigned to the office now to work remotely.

In an internal email obtained by ABC News. the message stated that employees normally assigned to the office will work remotely, except for those with essential on-site duties.

“Further guidance will be forthcoming,” the email said.

The closure follows comments from Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), who said he was “in the process” of “shutting down” USAID.

Musk claimed President Trump supported his efforts.

Tensions are rising at the agency, with DOGE staff reportedly taking over offices and senior officials locked out of internal systems.

Employees are being placed on administrative leave, and USAID’s chief of staff resigned. Musk’s agency is asserting control over USAID, which manages foreign aid and international development programs.

On Friday night, a group identifying as State Department employees and DOGE representatives demanded access to USAID offices, even threatening to involve U.S. Marshals when initially denied. Security later allowed their entry.

Musk has been vocal about his stance on USAID, calling it “a criminal organization” on social media. This move has unsettled USAID staff, with one official telling ABC News,

“The warp-speed of this mafia-like takeover has shaken USAID staff to the core.”

Posters and flags were removed from the Ronald Reagan Building, and employees placed on leave had their ID badges and work computers seized.

DOGE spokeswoman Katie Miller denied any unauthorized access to classified material but confirmed the group gained control of several critical USAID systems, including financial management software Phoenix, which led to disruptions in payments for contractors.

Conservative Bart De Wever was sworn in on Monday as Belgium’s new prime minister after securing a hard-fought coalition deal that shifts the country to the right.

Following seven months of intense negotiations, the agreement makes De Wever the first nationalist from Dutch-speaking Flanders to become Belgian premier.

A law-and-order candidate, whose coalition has already pledged to crack down on irregular migration, De Wever’s rise to power underscores a significant right-wing shift in European politics.

The 54-year-old, who in recent years has softened his stance on calls for Flanders to become an independent country, took the oath of office before King Philippe at the royal palace in Brussels.

From there, he headed straight to a gathering of EU leaders a few blocks away for discussions on defence and transatlantic relations, quipping to reporters that he was “jumping right in.”

On the day’s headline issue, De Wever stated that Belgium was committed to meeting NATO’s longstanding defence spending target of two per cent of GDP, up from the current 1.3 per cent.

“Europe has been a bit lazy on the topic of defence,” he remarked, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has woken us up.”

Faced with a dual challenge from President Donald Trump—threatening trade tariffs and pressuring allies to ramp up defence spending—De Wever emphasised that the EU must preserve its “relationship with the United States.”

De Wever’s N-VA party is part of the hard-right ECR group in the European Parliament, which also includes lawmakers from the parties of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Czech leader Petr Fiala.

“Our ECR group now has three prime ministers at the European Council table and participates in the government of seven countries,” French hard-right lawmaker Marion Marechal celebrated on X.

Hard-right parties, often riding on anti-immigrant sentiment, performed strongly in the European Parliament elections last year and have topped recent national and regional votes in Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands.

AFP

Canada’s most populous province and its economic engine, Ontario announced Monday a ban on United States’ companies bidding on tens of billions of dollars worth of government contracts, and dumped a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink in a pushback to US tariffs.

“Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. US-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on X.

Ford said he was “ripping up” a Can$100 million (US$68 million) contract with Starlink, signed in November 2024, to provide internet services to 15,000 homes and businesses in remote northern parts of Ontario.

Starlink satellites were to start beaming internet services to northern Ontario starting in June 2025.

The company’s owner, Musk, is the world’s richest man and a close adviser to US President Donald Trump, who vowed to slap 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports starting on Tuesday.

On Monday, Ontario’s liquor stores also started pulling US beer, wine and spirits off shelves. Several other Canadian provinces including Quebec, Nova Scotia and British Columbia were doing the same.

The government-run Liquor Control Board of Ontario is one of the world’s largest single buyers of alcohol, supplying its stores as well as local restaurants, bars and other retailers in the province.

It sells almost Can$1 billion worth of US alcohol, or about 3,600 products, each year.

Trump spoke earlier Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the tariffs and said in a post on his Truth Social platform they would speak again later in the day.

AFP