"Why do we need to spend $21 million on voter turnout in India? I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected.
We have got to tell the Indian Government".
US President Donald Trump has hinted at the former administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, of election interference in India as he continued to defend the Elon Muk-led Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) controversial decision to slash $21 million grant for the country aimed at increasing "voter turnout".
Speaking at Saudi Arabia government-backed FII Priority Summit in Miami on Wednesday night, Trump 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."
"I have a lot of respect for India and their Prime Minister, but giving $21 million for voter turnout?" Trump questioned.
On February 16, DOGE, established under the Trump 2.0 administration to oversee and cut government spending, announced its decision to slash $723 million in foreign aid funding as part of its broader budget overhaul plans.
The funding included the $21 million grant for India and also a $29 million programme to strengthen Bangladesh's political landscape.
Joining the debate over DOGE's controversial move, economist Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, called USAID the "biggest scam in human history".
In a tweet on Sunday, Sanyal said, "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."
The DOGE, Washington's 'cost-cutting' agency set up by Donald Trump, on February 16 listed items on which the "US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent" and the list included "USD 21M for voter turnout in India." It noted that all of the items have been cancelled.
The DOGE also said that another $29 million was slated for "strengthening the political landscape in Bangladesh" - a country that last year witnessed political turmoil amid allegations of US 'deep state' involvement in the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and $39 million for "fiscal federalism" and "biodiversity conservation" in Nepal, among other international fundings.
"Over the past month, we have effectively eliminated the USAID, which was funding much of this lunacy," Trump told the gathering in Miami.
"In less than a single month, DOGE has already saved over $55 billion - and we're just getting started... We will rapidly grow our economy by dramatically shrinking the federal government," he added.
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