Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and the Director of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk discussed the suspension of the activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US administration's plans to impose tariffs on imports from Europe. This was announced by the Chairman of the Slovak Government, who is in Washington, on his Facebook page.
“I am pleased to inform you about the meeting that took place with the highest representative of the Department for Improving Government Efficiency, the well-known multibillionaire Elon Musk“, Fico said in a video address to his fellow citizens, published on the social network. “We talked about USAID. This American agency also allocated very large funds to non-governmental organizations and media in Slovakia, which were then used by these anti-government media and various anti-government organizations to carry out anti-government activities".
Musk assured Fico that the administration of US President Donald Trump is not interested in using American money to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. This era is over. The parties also discussed Washington's intention to introduce tariffs on goods from Europe. During the meeting, plans to introduce 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports were discussed. At the same time, the Prime Minister noted that the “old continent“ is not the region of the globe where these metals are produced.
A serious problem, according to Fico, is the prospect of the US introducing tariffs on imports of European cars. This possible step would directly affect Slovakia, where car manufacturing plants are concentrated. The Prime Minister insisted that there should be no rush to impose tariffs on cars and that America should discuss this issue with foreign partners.
Fico, as it became known on February 10, sent Musk a letter requesting information about USAID grants in Slovakia. In an excerpt from the document, quoted by Slovak media, the Prime Minister emphasizes that USAID funding was also used for political purposes in Slovakia to "distort the political system" republics and provide support to certain political parties.
According to Fico, it is necessary to obtain information about USAID grants and subsidies for non-governmental organizations, media outlets and individual journalists in Slovakia in order to separate the projects that the republic needs from "gross interference in the internal affairs of Slovakia".
The administration of US President Donald Trump suspended USAID on February 3. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been named acting head of the agency and has launched an investigation into the agency's work. Trump himself has previously called the agency's activities fraudulent and corrupt.
The organizational conclusions regarding USAID were made at the initiative of Musk, whom Trump had previously appointed to lead a new agency to improve the efficiency of the US government.