I don’t think people fully grasp that USAID is not just an agency—it’s a weapon. NGOs aren’t charitable organizations but strategic tools of influence and control. Because of this, their funding is astronomically high—not as a byproduct of inefficiency, but by design. That’s precisely why I felt it was crucial to write this article: to expose their true purpose, both within our borders and abroad, and to show precisely how they operate as instruments of power, not philanthropy. More facts, less sensationalism.
Everyone suddenly seems to be an expert on USAID, so I figured it was time to lay out the basics. This introductory piece is meant to cut through the noise and clearly understand what USAID and NGOs are—and, more importantly, where the real problem lies. Too much of today’s reporting is irresponsible, reactionary, and driven by sensationalism—many gotcha moments and plenty of clicks but no real substance. It’s time to move past the surface-level outrage and get to the facts.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are often regarded as the benevolent protectors of humanity, promoting charitable, humanitarian causes free from political influence. This unassuming exterior is part of a carefully calculated façade. Occasionally exposed for questionable practices, NGOs serve as mere storefronts for a deeper, more insidious network designed to promote “U.S. Interests abroad” but work against U.S. interests within our borders.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are marketed as humanitarian champions, operating above politics and dedicated to charitable causes. This carefully crafted image is nothing more than a calculated façade—a smokescreen concealing its true function. While they serve as instruments of U.S. influence abroad, coercing foreign governments without needing military intervention within the United States, they operate against American sovereignty, security, and stability—advancing the agendas of transnational elites, bureaucratic cartels, and foreign interests.
For years, I have been filing lawsuits and submitting reports to the DOJ—since at least 2015—documenting NGO involvement in human trafficking and missing children. One of the most egregious offenders has been Lutheran Social Services, a so-called humanitarian organization that ran a trafficking pipeline under the guise of refugee and unaccompanied minor resettlement. Their Minnesota hub, using Fargo, ND as a designated Unaccompanied Minor center, was a small enough operation for me to expose—especially considering that this very system enabled Ilhan Omar to falsify her age, enter the country under false pretenses, marry her brother, and exploit Federal Student Aid while attending the University of North Dakota.
Fortunately, a newly elected State Auditor, Josh Gallion, initiated an audit in this area, uncovering missing children, unrecorded placements, and the “miskeying” of hundreds of thousands of dollars to so-called “foster families.” Instead of accountability, Governor Doug Burgum signed a law stripping the State Auditor of his ability to conduct independent audits without legislative permission—effectively shutting down future investigations.
And the result? No one went to jail. Key orchestrators—such as former Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and his Deputy AG—both conveniently deceased—were never held accountable. Meanwhile, Doug Burgum, rather than facing consequences, was rewarded with a federal promotion and is now sitting as Secretary of the Interior (for now).
This is how the system protects itself. NGOs are not just tools of foreign policy manipulation but instruments of domestic subversion. And when someone exposes their crimes, the machine moves swiftly to cover its tracks.
This isn’t about the individual NGO caught in a scandal. It’s about what they represent—a visible, expendable layer protecting the invisible infrastructure behind it. From ideological subversion to political interference and even financial laundering, some NGOs don’t just bridge gaps—they actively undermine the pillars of national security, sovereignty, and stability. The question is, why, and more importantly, who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes?
The Perfect Disguise: How NGOs Shield Influence Operations
Why are NGOs such powerful tools for influence operations? Simple—they masquerade as goodwill. The term NGO evokes ideas of charity, neutrality, and humanitarianism, making these organizations nearly immune to scrutiny. Their carefully curated public image protects them from deeper investigation, no matter how compromised their activities may be.
When an NGO is exposed for engaging in subversive actions—whether it’s meddling in domestic policies, facilitating mass migration, laundering foreign funds, or undermining border security—the attention remains on the NGO itself, not the system sustaining it. This distraction ensures that no one asks the fundamental questions:
- Who funds these organizations?
- Who approves their operations?
- Which bureaucrats and power brokers keep them running behind the scenes?
NGOs are nothing more than expendable assets in a much larger strategy. If one is compromised—“X Humanitarian Group” gets caught in a corruption scandal—the system replaces it with another entity, seamlessly continuing its work under a different name. The media might report on the scandal, but the true enablers—the bureaucrats, diplomats, and private interests orchestrating the agenda—remain untouched and, more importantly, never make headlines.
This is why NGOs are the perfect disguise for humanitarian operations and advancing political, financial, and ideological objectives under the illusion of benevolence.
UNDEREDUCATION ON NGOS: The Infamous Zoom Calls Are a Great Example
For years, I’ve tracked domestic NGOs and affinity groups—organizations like Momentum, Rise Up, Code Pink, and Sunrise Movement—which many believe to be subversive entities deserving of legal action. But the reality is more complicated. The participants in these groups genuinely believe in their causes, whether climate activism, racial justice, or economic reform. Take, for example, the Third Act climate activists who blockade banks. Their actions may be disruptive, but they are pawns, not masterminds. The true story isn’t about the protestors but the people who sanction, fund and manipulate these movements from behind the scenes.
Many so-called investigative journalists—like Millie Weaver and others—fall into the same trap and mislead many for clicks and fame: they focus on the visible, not the architects. They see groups like Sunrise Movement, Momentum, or Code Pink and assume these are the master orchestrators directing the chaos. But that’s precisely the distraction these networks rely on.
These groups function like chum in the water, designed to lure in amateur journalists and keep their attention focused on front-line activists rather than the hidden infrastructure funding and guiding them. It’s not that these reporters lack investigative ability—they lack the historical and structural understanding of what NGOs are.
One needs to go beyond surface-level activism and media headlines to truly grasp NGOs’ function. It requires deep reading into their origins, how they were structured in the 1940s as intelligence assets, and how intelligence communities worldwide have weaponized them to control movements, shape narratives, and advance strategic objectives without direct state intervention.
If you’re focusing on street-level activists, you’re chasing shadows. The real power players don’t march, chant, or wave signs—they write the checks and draft the policies. That’s precisely why DHS pressured Twitter (now X) to silence any discussion of the “Sunrise Movement.”
Why? Because these groups aren’t grassroots at all—they’re bankrolled by YOUR tax dollars, funneled through government grants, NGOs, and a web of “philanthropic” foundations. And that’s just the beginning. The last thing they want is public scrutiny exposing how these so-called activist groups are nothing more than state-funded political weapons masquerading as civil movements.
The Bureaucratic Shield: Legitimizing Subversion
It’s critical to recognize that federal and state employees actively participate in these groups—but their role isn’t just as protestors. Instead, they legitimize these activities by ensuring they remain protected under First Amendment rights, framing acts of disruption, civil disobedience, and lobbying as constitutionally valid expressions of free speech. Their presence lends institutional credibility to what would otherwise be seen as radical activism.
This bureaucratic involvement creates a firewall between these groups and law enforcement. It ensures they are viewed as organic grassroots movements instead of being investigated for coordinated subversion, financial crimes, or foreign influence. This illusion of innocence is deliberate, allowing these NGOs to operate freely while their true benefactors remain hidden.
The Money Trail: Who’s Pulling the Strings?
Over the years, I’ve conducted my independent investigations, often alongside others, and one thing became clear: people kept getting lost in the weeds.
- Who’s running the training courses?
- Who’s organizing the events?
- Who’s managing the logistics?
These are distractions. The real question is: Who’s funding it? Because when you follow the money, you find who’s pulling the strings. Funding networks don’t just support these groups—they manufacture and direct them.
Penetrating the System: The Power of Naming the Invisible
This is how you get to the bottom of things. This is why we gained access when we infiltrated Save the Children in Guatemala in 2023. We uncovered their operations—not by going after the front-facing NGO, but by identifying the unknown, unnamed power players backing them. I used the name of the unknown to enter the premises.
Once you name the invisible and identify the true architects of these networks, you understand that NGOs aren’t rogue operations—they are tools engineered and financed to serve broader, more insidious agendas.
It’s never about the cause—it’s about control.
Who are the real players? Behind every NGO operating on this scale lies a web of unseen actors. These include bureaucrats approving key grants, diplomats strategically overlooking breaches, intelligence assets leveraging NGOs for covert activities, and foreign entities funding them to advance agendas that conflict with U.S. interests.
The unelected bureaucratic class that protects these entities plays a pivotal role. These career individuals—shielded from public accountability—operate within the seemingly innocuous realms of policy approval, foreign relations, and institutional oversight. Unlike elected officials, they wield significant influence without subjecting themselves to the public vote.
The danger lies in the system’s permanence. Presidents may come and go, but the machinery behind these influence operations doesn’t change. It adapts, evolves, and stays hidden in plain sight.
The Visibility Factor
Exposing an NGO’s shady dealings creates headlines. Exposing the system that facilitates them? That’s a far riskier endeavor.
NGOs, intentionally or not, act as scapegoats. They take the heat if the spotlight falls on their activities—whether it is questionable spending, policy interference, or undermining national security. The bureaucratic network above and behind them remains untouched.
For instance, consider the rebranding tactics many NGOs deploy after controversy. A tarnished organization may adopt a new name, tweak a social media strategy, and return to operations without missing a beat. The illusion that “problem solved” satisfies the public, leaving the more profound, systemic enablers intact.
Let’s not overlook the state and federal employees embedded within these NGOs—not as rogue activists but as strategic legitimizers. Their role isn’t to lead protests or take risks; it’s to lend institutional credibility to these operations, ensuring they appear lawful, organic, and worthy of public support.
By endorsing and engaging with these groups, these bureaucrats create the illusion of legitimacy, inspiring more recruits, increasing participation, and manufacturing the numbers needed to justify the movement’s existence. Their presence signals official approval, shielding these NGOs from scrutiny while they push agendas that would otherwise be dismissed as fringe or unlawful.
How USAID Uses NGOs to Subvert Foreign Governments
Overseas, USAID-funded NGOs function as covert instruments of soft power, carefully engineered to serve U.S. geopolitical interests under the guise of humanitarianism and democracy promotion. These organizations are designed to destabilize regimes that refuse to align with Western strategic objectives, often laying the groundwork for political upheaval under the banner of “reform” or “civil society strengthening.”
By infiltrating a nation’s political and economic structures, these NGOs facilitate color revolutions, orchestrating mass protests and unrest to topple governments deemed unfavorable to U.S. interests. At the same time, they embed economic dependencies by tying local economies to Western financial institutions, ensuring long-term leverage over national policies and resources. Through grants, advisory roles, and diplomatic pressure, they push governments to adopt policies prioritizing U.S. officials, multinational corporations, and supranational bodies such as the IMF, UN, and WEF, securing compliance without requiring direct military intervention.
Far from neutral humanitarian entities, these NGOs operate as weapons of influence, advancing strategic U.S. objectives while maintaining the illusion of grassroots activism. They shape political landscapes, manipulate economies, and exert control—all while remaining mainly immune to scrutiny under the protective veil of philanthropy and democracy promotion. For nearly a decade, I’ve written extensively on this topic and covered it in depth through numerous radio shows and podcasts on ToreSaid.com and toresays.com.
Social media is flooded with talk about USAID and NGOs—suddenly, everyone’s an expert. But let’s be clear: this isn’t new information. They’ve known about it all along. I spent a decade reaching out to influencers and reporters, trying to get them to cover this, but back then, it wasn’t a trendy topic. Now, it’s all hype—people claiming to “expose” things already out in the open, not to inform, but to manufacture a false sense of accomplishment.
This isn’t about real accountability. It’s about approved influencers cashing in—raking in clicks, likes, and sponsorship deals while carefully staying within the boundaries of what’s allowed to be said. Don’t forget that new media is just as controlled as legacy media. The voices you hear the loudest? They’re the ones you’re supposed to hear. They tell you what to care about, when to care, and exactly how to think. Never lose sight of that.
What Happens When These NGOs Operate Inside the U.S.?
While USAID-funded NGOs operate abroad to influence foreign governments, the same networks exist within the United States, but their purpose shifts dramatically. Instead of destabilizing external regimes to align with U.S. interests, these NGOs focus on reshaping American society, using the same tactics of infiltration, lobbying, and narrative control. More concerning is that they do this under the protection of the very bureaucratic infrastructure that directs their operations overseas. Their presence in the U.S. isn’t about serving American national interests but actively working against them.
These organizations operate as an unelected governing force, advancing policies that weaken national sovereignty, disrupt economic stability, and override public will, all while maintaining the illusion of grassroots activism. The people marching in the streets, the activists shutting down industries, and the organizations suing to enforce radical policies may seem disconnected. Still, they are all part of a coordinated, well-funded effort to remake America in a way that benefits powerful transnational entities—not its citizens.
Who Do These NGOs Serve?
If these NGOs aren’t working in the best interests of the American people, then whose agenda are they implementing? The answer lies in a web of globalist elites, entrenched bureaucrats, foreign governments, and ideological power players who use these organizations as tools to exert control without public accountability.
The Globalist Elite: NGOs inside the U.S. don’t operate independently; they advance the interests of corporate oligarchs, international financial institutions, and supranational organizations such as the IMF, UN, WEF, and EU. These entities rely on NGOs to push policies undermining national sovereignty and promote a borderless, globally managed system controlled by multinational interests. They drive economic policies prioritizing foreign labor over American workers, enforce ESG compliance that benefits international monopolies, and normalize ideological movements that fracture national unity. NGOs give them a non-governmental means of achieving what elected leaders could never pass through democratic processes.
The Permanent Bureaucracy & Deep State: Just as NGOs are used to control and subvert foreign governments, they are used domestically to override the American political system. The same career officials and bureaucrats who execute U.S. foreign influence campaigns overseas use these same NGOs to shape domestic policy behind the scenes. These actors create a parallel, unelected governance structure, ensuring that no matter who is elected, the agenda remains the same. They don’t need public approval—they control the funding pipelines, legal mechanisms, and institutional influence to impose policies without accountability or oversight.
Foreign Governments & Influence Networks: NGOs act as foreign influence operations, laundering money, narratives, and policies into the American political system through activism, litigation, and lobbying. Many of these groups receive direct or indirect funding from hostile nations, including China, EU entities, and Middle Eastern donors, who see NGOs as a tool to reshape U.S. policy in their favor. These foreign-backed organizations influence trade laws, military policy, immigration frameworks, and even social movements to weaken America’s strategic position while strengthening its geopolitical standing.
Social Engineering Networks: NGOs are central players in ideological subversion, ensuring that the cultural, economic, and demographic structure of the United States is permanently altered. These organizations push radical immigration policies, climate activism, racial division, gender ideology, ESG compliance, and social justice enforcement, all under the guise of progressive change. However, their true purpose is to create permanent instability—weakening national identity, fracturing economic independence, and eroding the fundamental principles that unify American society.
NGOs as Parallel Governance
Inside the United States, NGOs operate as shadow governments, crafting, influencing, and enforcing policy without voter input or democratic oversight. Working with the media, academia, and corporate donors, they ensure that public sentiment is shaped, elections are influenced, and laws are rewritten without legislative approval.
Rather than being transparent, these organizations function through a maze of legal loopholes, tax-exempt foundations, and government-backed funding schemes to achieve goals that the public never voted for. Their presence allows unelected bureaucrats, international financiers, and foreign entities to exercise power far beyond the reach of the ballot box.
They override elected officials by controlling narratives, legislation, and judicial rulings through an orchestrated mix of lawsuits, media pressure, and regulatory capture. They circumvent democracy by embedding themselves deep within government agencies, coordinating efforts between federal offices, NGOs, and international organizations to create policies that never pass through Congress yet still affect every American.
Their influence fundamentally altered the United States by promoting open-border immigration, enforcing DEI and ESG compliance, and restructuring the economy to favor global markets over national interests. They dictate what industries are allowed to thrive, what values are socially acceptable, and what political views are censored—all under the guise of advocacy and activism.
The Bigger Picture
Abroad, USAID and its affiliated NGOs are potent instruments used to subvert foreign nations, bending governments to U.S. foreign policy objectives without the need for military intervention. However, domestically, these same NGOs have turned against America itself, hollowing out its sovereignty from within. Unlike their foreign counterparts, which serve geopolitical interests, the NGOs operating inside the U.S. serve the interests of global bureaucratic elites, corporate monopolists, and hostile foreign entities.
Essentially, these organizations are not independent charities or grassroots movements—they are the enforcement arm of a supranational agenda. Using America’s institutions, laws, and financial resources, they methodically undermine its ability to self-govern, control its borders, and dictate its own future.
NGOs have become the ultimate weapon in modern influence warfare. They operate without borders, without accountability, and without the public ever realizing who truly controls them.
Invisible Methods Except to Eyes that Can See
Diplomats approving lax visa applications, intelligence assets exploiting crises to expand their reach, and bureaucrats prioritizing policy loopholes over national security are the real architects and gatekeepers of the system. NGOs are mere pawns, serving as disposable front-line actors, while genuine power brokers remain hidden.
These operators are unelected, largely unaccountable, and nearly impossible to expose. Their influence depends on keeping the public distracted—fixating on the visible (NGOs, activists, and protests) rather than questioning the forces orchestrating their actions from behind the scenes. While many focus on foreign funding fueling subversive activities within U.S. borders, the far more critical issue is domestic funding—your tax dollars.
It’s no secret that billions of dollars vanish within federal agencies, leading watchdogs and investigators to chase missing funds. However, this approach misses the accurate picture—the most insidious funding sources are neither easily traceable foreign contributions nor straightforward federal grants. The actual mechanism is far more deliberate, structured, and obscured through layers of bureaucracy and private partnerships. In the following article, I’ll unravel the key piece of this puzzle—one that exposes just how little most people understand about how these financial networks operate.
I’ve said this before: in the intelligence world, everything is a mosaic. You may hold one piece, but you never know what pieces someone else has. The key to understanding the entire picture isn’t just chasing scattered details—it’s knowing where the corner pieces are. And in this game, the corner pieces are always the methods. The methods reveal everything, and that’s where the real power lies.
(This article is a summary of Volume III in my Book Series| Digital Dominion: The Theater of Control)
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