Apart from contradictions in Trump statements, Washington Post, others question whether amount was disbursed at all
U.S. President Donald Trump took another swipe on Sunday (February 23, 2025) at the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, and India for an alleged grant of millions for “voter turnout” during Indian elections. The comments, the fifth time Mr. Trump had referred to a list prepared by the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the past week, came even as more questions were being raised on the veracity of the allegations.
“Eighteen million dollars for helping India with its elections. Why the hell?” Mr. Trump said, addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Sunday. As he reeled off the numbers of grants allocated by USAID according to the DOGE list, which included Bangladesh, Nepal, and other Asian as well as African countries, Mr. Trump referred to the figure being given to India as ”18 million dollars”, a shift from the figure of 21 million dollars used thus far.
“We’re giving money to India for elections. They don’t need money,” he added, before attacking India for high tariffs and threatening reciprocal taxes. “They take advantage of us pretty good. One of the highest tariff nations in the world… We have 200% [tariffs] there and then we are giving them a lot of money to help them with their election,” Mr. Trump added.
Since the DOGE headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk put out the information on February 16, Mr. Trump has referred to it on five occasions at different public events. However, his statements had some contradictions. On February 19, he said that while he had a “lot of respect for India and their Prime Minister”, giving $21 million for voter turnout was unacceptable as India has a “lot more money”. On February 20, he suggested the money had been provided by the previous U.S. administration to “get somebody else elected”. “We have got to tell the Indian government… This is a total breakthrough,” he added.
On February 21, however, Mr. Trump said the motivation was a “kickback scheme” for the previous U.S. government. “It’s not like [Indians] get it and they spend, they kick it back to the people that send it.” On February 22, he reversed his suggestion from February 20 by saying that the money was “going to my friend Prime Minister Modi in India for voter turnout.” In his latest statement on February 23, it was unclear whether Mr. Trump mistakenly referred to the figure of $18 million, or this was a revised figure.
Apart from the contradictions in Mr. Trump’s statements, many are now questioning whether the money allocated to USAID had even been transferred as a “disbursal”, or was still an “obligation” or allocation from the agency. The original statements made in the DOGE post on social media forum X, said U.S. taxpayer dollars “were going to be spent on the following items”, not that they had been spent already, adding that all payments planned have now been cancelled. Secondly, the entry on India refers to “$486M to the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening”, including “$21M for voter turnout in India”.
This week, Indian media and the Washington Post also published investigations speaking to officials at the USAID and documents where they said there was no evidence of a “voter turnout” project for India at all.
The DOGE has not responded to The Hindu’s written requests for further details of the alleged allocations for India. The Ministry of External Affairs, which had said on Friday that the allegations were “deeply troubling” and that relevant government departments were looking into the issues involved, has declined to comment on Mr. Trump’s latest remarks.
A study of archived versions of the agency’s websites also provide some discrepancies.
Since the freezing of all foreign funding by the USAID and suspension of staff by the DOGE, websites of the USAID and the USAID-funded consortium of NGOs called the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening” have been taken down. An archived version of the CEPPS Website does not list India amongst the 45 countries it has operated in (2015-2020).
However, some of the NGOs that are part of the consortium, like International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) have run projects in India, including the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding with the Election Commission for electoral training, which was renewed in 2020. The consortium’s funding reports show that in 2018 and 2019, a figure of approximately $319,000 were approved for expenses, far lower than the figure of $21 million
‘Why the hell are we helping India’: Trump makes fifth statement on USAID grant, but no clarity on money trail
Apart from contradictions in Trump statements, Washington Post, others question whether amount was disbursed at all
U.S. President Donald Trump took another swipe on Sunday (February 23, 2025) at the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, and India for an alleged grant of millions for “voter turnout” during Indian elections. The comments, the fifth time Mr. Trump had referred to a list prepared by the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the past week, came even as more questions were being raised on the veracity of the allegations.
“Eighteen million dollars for helping India with its elections. Why the hell?” Mr. Trump said, addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Sunday. As he reeled off the numbers of grants allocated by USAID according to the DOGE list, which included Bangladesh, Nepal, and other Asian as well as African countries, Mr. Trump referred to the figure being given to India as ”18 million dollars”, a shift from the figure of 21 million dollars used thus far.
“We’re giving money to India for elections. They don’t need money,” he added, before attacking India for high tariffs and threatening reciprocal taxes. “They take advantage of us pretty good. One of the highest tariff nations in the world… We have 200% [tariffs] there and then we are giving them a lot of money to help them with their election,” Mr. Trump added.
Since the DOGE headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk put out the information on February 16, Mr. Trump has referred to it on five occasions at different public events. However, his statements had some contradictions. On February 19, he said that while he had a “lot of respect for India and their Prime Minister”, giving $21 million for voter turnout was unacceptable as India has a “lot more money”. On February 20, he suggested the money had been provided by the previous U.S. administration to “get somebody else elected”. “We have got to tell the Indian government… This is a total breakthrough,” he added.
On February 21, however, Mr. Trump said the motivation was a “kickback scheme” for the previous U.S. government. “It’s not like [Indians] get it and they spend, they kick it back to the people that send it.” On February 22, he reversed his suggestion from February 20 by saying that the money was “going to my friend Prime Minister Modi in India for voter turnout.” In his latest statement on February 23, it was unclear whether Mr. Trump mistakenly referred to the figure of $18 million, or this was a revised figure.
Apart from the contradictions in Mr. Trump’s statements, many are now questioning whether the money allocated to USAID had even been transferred as a “disbursal”, or was still an “obligation” or allocation from the agency. The original statements made in the DOGE post on social media forum X, said U.S. taxpayer dollars “were going to be spent on the following items”, not that they had been spent already, adding that all payments planned have now been cancelled. Secondly, the entry on India refers to “$486M to the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening”, including “$21M for voter turnout in India”.
This week, Indian media and the Washington Post also published investigations speaking to officials at the USAID and documents where they said there was no evidence of a “voter turnout” project for India at all.
The DOGE has not responded to The Hindu’s written requests for further details of the alleged allocations for India. The Ministry of External Affairs, which had said on Friday that the allegations were “deeply troubling” and that relevant government departments were looking into the issues involved, has declined to comment on Mr. Trump’s latest remarks.
A study of archived versions of the agency’s websites also provide some discrepancies.
Since the freezing of all foreign funding by the USAID and suspension of staff by the DOGE, websites of the USAID and the USAID-funded consortium of NGOs called the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening” have been taken down. An archived version of the CEPPS Website does not list India amongst the 45 countries it has operated in (2015-2020).
However, some of the NGOs that are part of the consortium, like International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) have run projects in India, including the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding with the Election Commission for electoral training, which was renewed in 2020. The consortium’s funding reports show that in 2018 and 2019, a figure of approximately $319,000 were approved for expenses, far lower than the figure of $21 million
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