The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, announced that it had cut $723 million in foreign aid funding. This includes a $21 million grant aimed at boosting voter turnout in India.
Trump said after signing executive orders at Mar-a-Lago “Why are we giving USD 21 million to India? They have a lot more money. They are one of the highest taxing countries in the world in terms of us; we can hardly get in there because their tariffs are so high. I have a lot of respect for India and their Prime Minister, but giving USD 21 million for voter turnout?”
Following DOGE’s disclosure, Indian political leaders began to wonder if foreign leaders were meddling in the country’s elections. Amit Malviya of the BJP expressed doubts about the purpose of the spending on X.
“21 million dollars for voting? This is unquestionably outside meddling in India’s election process. Who benefits from this? “Definitely not the ruling party!” he stated in his message.
Possible reasons to dodge India’s foreign aid
Trump’s administration placed a higher priority on domestic expenditure than international aid, frequently claiming that American taxpayers shouldn’t pay for projects elsewhere unless they directly benefited the country.
One of the biggest and fastest-growing economies in the world is that of India. It’s possible that Trump and his staff thought India should manage its own voter turnout campaigns without outside funding and didn’t require financial support from the United States.
The Trump administration shifted foreign aid to areas it considered more important, prioritizing border security, military spending, and support for regions aligned with U.S. strategic goals, such as Israel or Eastern Europe.
On Sunday, DOGE, created under the Donald Trump administration to monitor and reduce government spending, announced its decision to cut $723 million in international aid funding as part of a larger budget overhaul plan.
Among the funds were a $21 million grant for India and a $29 million initiative to improve the political climate in Bangladesh.
Other countries
President Donald Trump significantly reduced and suspended U.S. foreign aid during his term, impacting several nations and projects.
- Nepal: The suspension of a $500 million infrastructure project award put the nation’s growth goals in jeopardy and might have an impact on its geopolitical alliances.
- Georgia: The implementation of a law deemed anti-democratic caused the suspension of more than $95 million in aid.
- United Nations Agencies: Funding was cut or stopped for a number of U.N. agencies, including those that deal with human rights, peacekeeping, and refugee assistance.
- Ukraine: Due to continuous conflicts, all foreign funding to Ukraine was suspended, raising questions about the nation’s defense capability.
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