New York: US President Donald Trump has once again questioned the Biden administration’s decision to allocate USD 21 million to India for “voter turnout”, guessing that they were trying to “get somebody else elected”.
Trump made these remarks while addressing the FII PRIORITY Summit in Miami on Thursday. He had raised similar concerns earlier, questioning the necessity of such financial aid.
On Wednesday, he questioned the purpose of providing USD 21 million to India for “voter turnout” as he reiterated that the US “can hardly get in there” because of high Indian tariffs.
His remarks came after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk disclosed that USAID contributed USD 21 million to the Election Commission to boost voter turnout in India.
At the FII summit, Trump cited some examples to the audience about where their money was going before he became president. “These are random examples,” he said.
“…And USD 21 million for voter turnout in India. Why do we need to spend USD 21 million for voter turnout in India? Wow, I guess they (the Biden administration) were trying to get somebody else elected. We have got to tell the Indian Government,” he said.
“Because, when we hear that, Russia spent about USD 2 in our country, it was a big deal…This is a total breakthrough, USD 21 million for Indian elections, and USD 29 million to strengthen the political landscape in Bangladesh… Asia is doing well, we don’t need to give them money,” he said.
He further said that these are just a few of the funding. The list is very long.
On February 16, DOGE listed items on which the “US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent” and the list included “USD 21M for voter turnout in India.”
DOGE noted that all of the items have been cancelled.
The list also included USD 29 million for “strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh”, USD 20 million for “fiscal federalism” and USD 19 million for “biodiversity conservation” in Nepal as well as USD 47 million for “improving learning outcomes in Asia”.
The DOGE has been put in charge of overseeing workforce reduction across the government, and as part of that, Musk announced that he would shut down USAID, which is responsible for humanitarian efforts around the globe.
According to USAID officials on February 7, all USAID humanitarian work worldwide was stopped, ABC News reported.
The agency’s website was shut down before Musk’s announcement. Later, a Trump-nominated judge announced a temporary restraining order that prevents the president and DOGE from placing 2,200 employees on administrative leave.
