Elon Musk threatens to sue Ro Khanna over claims USAID cuts sentenced children to death
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Monday that it may be "time to sue" Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., after the California representative's latest comments against the new trillionaire.
The announcement came after Khanna called on the Democratic Party to hold Musk accountable if they regained control over the House of Representatives or the Senate on the "I've Had It" podcast Saturday.
"I do believe once we take power, there needs to be accountability," Khanna said. "There needs to be accountability for Elon Musk. You know, they’re celebrating that he created 4,400 millionaires, but they don’t talk about the 4.5 million children around the world who he possibly sentenced to death by dismantling USAID."
Khanna continued, "He needs to answer for that. He needs to be subpoenaed. He needs to face investigation. He needs to answer for what he did with DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency]. It's not just 'let's move on.'"
Musk responded to the story in an X post on Monday, where he wrote, "Time to sue this liar."
Musk also wrote and reposted several comments attacking Khanna and his premise that cuts to USAID led to the deaths of millions of children.
"Absolutely. This is a total lie. All DOGE did was require contact with the aid recipients to confirm that funds were being used legitimately. Anything less than this is insane! Multiple people from USAID have been charged by the Justice Department with stealing money. Moreover, they pled GUILTY!!" Musk wrote, linking to a 2025 Justice Department press release on a former USAID official's guilty plea.
In another post, he wrote, "The standard applied by DOGE was very simple and easy: Provide contact information for the recipients of aid, so that we can confirm it is not fraudulent. The reality is that money was being sent to corrupt politicians under the guise of aid! Liars and stock insider traders like Ro the Robber should be in prison!!"
He also repeatedly referred to Khanna as a "robber," accusing him of questionable stock trading practices.
In a comment to Fox News Digital, a Khanna representative pointed to a video the congressman posted pushing back on Musk's posts.
"Today, Elon Musk threatened to sue me, and he called on the Justice Department to put me in prison," Khanna said. "That's right. The world's richest person has spent all day tweeting, going after me. Why? Because I cited an academic study that his DOGE cuts may lead to the deaths of millions of children overseas."
He continued, "You know, Elon, I thought you were a free speech guy. Why not debate me on these issues instead of threatening lawfare? You're not going to be able to intimidate me. I'm the guy who stood up to the Epstein class and worked with [Rep. Thomas] Massie to get the Epstein files released. I'm the guy who stood up against AIPAC and called out a genocide. And I'm the guy who stood up to billionaires in my district who ran someone against me and still called for a wealth tax. So I'm not going to be intimidated or silenced."
Fox News Digital reached out to Tesla and SpaceX for comment.