MANILA, Philippines — Moves to halt foreign aid and shut down USAID, or the US Agency for International Development, are the latest in President Donald Trump’s explosive policies designed to insulate America from supposedly ineffective global commitments.

USAID has been providing humanitarian aid to several countries, including the Philippines, for over six decades. Its programs aim to address a variety of key issues, such as access to public health, ending conflict in poor regions, promoting democracy and human rights, among others.

But the agency has been among the key targets of Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk. The mostly unfounded attacks against USAID came side by side with right-wing propaganda and vitriol that demonized humanitarian global aid in general.

This is nothing new. In the past, Trump and his allies led by Musk had amplified conspiracy theories on various topics, from science and health to immigration. 

In the case of USAID, Musk is leading the charge of baseless accusations against it, claiming it’s a “criminal organization,” a “radical-left political psy-op,” and a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.” Musk also accused USAID of “paying media organizations to publish their propaganda.” 

These narratives have reached Philippine shores.

To get a better understanding of how these unfolded in the country, The Nerve scanned Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) for public posts from the Philippines that mentioned USAID from February 1 to 10, 2025. 

On these platforms, conspiracy theories that claimed USAID supports figures and organizations with pro-US and liberal, left-leaning agendas flourished among Philippine-based users.

Here’s what we found:

• A number of media outlets — specifically Rappler, Vera Files, and the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) — were recently attacked for receiving funding from US-based organizations, including USAID. Some users also linked them to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which Musk has branded as a “scam.”
• Other posts alluded to accusations that USAID backs only progressive causes and organizations, with some actors going as far as red-tagging certain groups. 
• The Nerve’s scan also found attacks against former vice president Leni Robredo and her non-government organization, Angat Buhay. When Robredo was vice president, her office partnered with USAID for a youth training program, and Angat Buhay was also recognized as a partner for a USAID-organized event after Robredo’s term ended.
• Other amplified claims included pro-Russia propaganda. At least one Facebook post and another X post alluded to the false claim that USAID paid Hollywood celebrities, including Ben Stiller and Angelina Jolie, to visit Ukraine and “boost” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s popularity among Americans. Stiller has denied this allegation and said his trip to Ukraine was “completely self-funded.”

Attacks on media, politicians with USAID links

The Philippines has long been one of America’s strongest and enduring allies in the Asia-Pacific and was among USAID’s first partner countries when the agency was launched in 1951. (The Brookings Institute tackles the implications of a USAID shutdown here.)

On the other hand, NED was created in 1983 to support programs that promote good governance, human rights, and democratic values in nearly 100 countries around the world. A non-profit, NED receives an annual endowment from the US Congress through the State Department as well as other funding sources. 

Key USAID projects in the country focus on issues surrounding education, the environment, health, humanitarian assistance, and economic development and governance. Other significant USAID projects in Global South countries zero in on protecting the Amazon rainforest, providing services for HIV patients, and improving food security and nutrition.

USAID funded select Philippine news outlets for certain periods during the previous Duterte administration — to help them combat disinformation and intensify fact-checking efforts amid attacks against independent newsrooms.

Rappler, Vera Files, and PCIJ were partners of the USAID-funded Initiative for Media Freedom (IMF) project by Internews. The IMF aimed to improve press freedom and train media outlets to counter disinformation, as attacks on media and widespread propaganda were rampant during the Duterte administration. 

Through the project, Rappler produced a study on the Philippine information ecosystem and a report on deepfakes and scams, among others. All of these were done without interference from Internews, following Rappler’s policies. 

Before the current hate campaign against USAID and NED, Duterte’s disinformation networks had already blasted independent Philippine newsrooms that have received funding from NED for their fact-checking initiatives. Yet, this has always been publicly disclosed; Rappler and Vera Files stated they receive grants for their fact-checking, research, and media and information literacy efforts, while PCIJ said they receive funds for its training seminar-workshops.

Recent posts on Facebook and X attacked Rappler for being a “regime change tool” that supposedly favors pro-US and pro-Western content, and actively censors pro-Duterte and anti-Western content. These posts also repeated an old false refrain: that Rappler is funded by Open Society Foundations, owned by American billionaire-philanthropist George Soros — also often a target of far-right conspiracy theories.

Another user on X mentioned Rappler in a post that claimed USAID functioned as a front for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This is reminiscent of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s false claim that the CIA funds Rappler.

One X user likewise falsely claimed the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines — also among the partners in the USAID-funded IMF project — was linked to the CPP-NPA-NDF.

Among the actors attacking Robredo and Angat Buhay are the pro-Duterte Facebook pages JAN Writer and Joie de Vivre. One of JAN Writer’s posts in particular suggested that Angat Buhay will lose money following President Trump’s decision to halt foreign aid. Other posts on X mentioning Robredo also claimed USAID is simply a vehicle to promote liberal or leftist advocacies and US interests.

Far-right narratives in PH spaces

Because much of Philippine life and culture has been influenced by the US, this means far-right propaganda narratives from America have also reached Philippine-based audiences online. (READ: Filipinos echo lies from US on Trump assassination attempt)

On X, an overwhelming 85% of all posts from Philippine-based users were reposts from other users around the world, including Musk himself, other far-right pundits like Alex Jones, and nationalist leaders like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

These reposts included Musk’s unfounded claims against USAID as well as misleading narratives that USAID funded critical media outlets like the BBC and Politico.

Various X users shared nearly-identical posts listing down several projects that USAID supposedly funded. These were all shared after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt listed some of USAID’s alleged “insane priorities” herself.

While Leavitt and the X posts were correct on some items — such as the $20 million grant to Sesame Workshop and the $4.5 million grant to combat disinformation in Kazakhstan — other supposed USAID projects they mentioned lacked significant context. 

For instance, the supposed $2 million grant on “sex changes in Guatemala” simply aimed to “deliver gender-affirming health care” in the country, with no explicit mention of surgical procedures. The supposed $6 million grant to fund “tourism in Europe” referred to a bilateral assistance agreement, launched under the first Trump administration, with no explicit mention of tourism.

Amplified pro-Russia narratives included the false claim that USAID paid Hollywood celebrities to visit Ukraine and “boost” Zelenskyy’s popularity among Americans. American actor and comedian Ben Stiller has since denied this claim.

American far-right organizations penetrated the Philippine Facebook space, too. 

The Gateway Pundit, a far-right US website that has repeatedly been fact-checked in the past, was among the most active Facebook sources spreading anti-USAID propaganda in the Philippines.

Its Facebook page amplified the fact-checked claim that USAID paid Politico millions of dollars, as well as the unfounded narrative that it helped the Democrats steal the 2020 election by supposedly funding the Wuhan lab that created COVID-19 — a claim that lacks context. Other posts by The Gateway Pundit aimed to humiliate Democrats and other figures who criticized Trump’s decision to halt foreign aid.

Among the 12 administrators and managers of The Gateway Pundit’s official Facebook page, four are based in the Philippines — proof of the American far-right’s influence in the country.

America continues to be a strong influence on the Philippines, for better or for worse — and the attacks on USAID are no exception. — with reports from Gemma B. Mendoza and Sean dela Cruz/Rappler.com

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This story was originally published on Rappler on February 14, 2025.

Decoded is a Rappler series that explores the challenges and opportunities that come with living in transformative times. It is produced by The Nerve, a data forensics company that enables changemakers to navigate real-world trends and issues through narrative & network investigations. Taking the best of human and machine, we enable partners to unlock powerful insights that shape informed decisions. Composed of a team of data scientists, strategists, award-winning storytellers, and designers, the company is on a mission to deliver data with real-world impact.