US President Donald Trump on Wednesday night made a huge claim against the Biden administration. He accused the Biden administration of interfering in Indian elections after the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) decided to stop $21 million grant for increasing "voter turnout" in India.
While addressing the FII Priority Summit in Miami said: "Why do we need to spend $21 million on voter turnout in India? I guess they (Biden administration) were trying to get somebody else elected. We have got to tell the Indian Government. This is a total breakthrough."
This, however, was not the first time that Trump questioned why India was getting funds in the name of increasing voter turnout in the country. He further said that India has a lot of money and is one of the "highest-taxing" countries in the world.
Trump added that the US can "hardly get in there" because of exorbitant tariffs. "I have a lot of respect for India and their Prime Minister, but giving $21 million for voter turnout?" Trump questioned.
After Trump's remarks on Tuesday, writer-economist Sanjeev Sanyal called USAID the "biggest scam in human history".
"Would love to find out who received the US$21mn spent to improve 'voter turnout in India' and the US$29mn to 'strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh'; not to mention the US$29mn spend to improve 'fiscal federalism' in Nepal. USAID is the biggest scam in human history," Sanyal wrote on X.
DOGE, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, on February 16 announced that the several US-funded international projects have been cancelled, including $21 million for increasing voter turnout in India.
DOGE's post read: "US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all (of) which have been cancelled..."
Other projects that were cancelled by DOGE include $29 million for "strengthening the political landscape in Bangladesh", $39 million for "fiscal federalism" and "biodiversity conservation" in Nepal, $10 million for "Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision", $1.5 million for "voter confidence" in Liberia, $14 million for "social cohesion" in Mali, $2.5 million for "inclusive democracies in Southern Africa", and $47 million for "improving learning outcomes in Asia".