‘That’s what American tax dollars funded’: Elon Musk on USAID freeze shutting India’s first transgender clinic

India’s first transgender healthcare clinic, Mitr Clinic in Hyderabad, has shut down following a sweeping funding freeze imposed by the Trump 2.0 administration. The clinic was forced to close after its parent non-profit, Project ACCELERATE, lost all funding under the executive order halting USAID assistance worldwide.

Reacting to the closure, Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), posted on X (formerly Twitter), “That’s what American tax dollars were funding.”

Mitr Clinic, launched in 2021, provided critical healthcare services to the LGBTQIA+ community, including general health consultations, HIV testing and treatment, mental health care, gender affirmation services, and legal guidance. The success of the Hyderabad centre led to the opening of two more clinics in Pune and Thane.

By early 2025, the clinic had a team of seven transgender employees and served 150–200 individuals each month, according to a report in The Hindu.

The funding freeze comes as part of Trump and Musk’s broader push to shrink the federal government, with USAID being one of their main targets. Both have criticized USAID programs as “wasteful” and misaligned with the administration’s agenda.

Musk acknowledged that DOGE had “accidentally cancelled” efforts by USAID to curb the spread of Ebola but insisted the programme was quickly reinstated. He also defended the cost-cutting drive, saying mistakes would be corrected as needed.

Since Trump’s second-term inauguration on January 20, the USAID freeze has shut down most of its global programs, leaving nearly all staff on administrative leave or furlough. The administration is now considering folding any remaining USAID initiatives into the State Department.

Amid a heated political row over USAID’s alleged role in influencing Indian elections, the Finance Ministry’s latest annual report has revealed that the agency funded seven projects worth $750 million in 2023-24. 
For the financial year 2023-24, USAID obligated a total of $97 million (approximately ₹825 crore) under these seven projects, according to the Finance Ministry’s report.

The Department of Economic Affairs, which oversees bilateral funding arrangements, outlined that these projects focused on agriculture and food security, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), renewable energy, disaster management, and health.