USAID has funded several projects in India

US President Donald Trump claimed that $21 million was given by USAID to India for “Voter Turnout”. This is untrue. Between 2008 and 2024, USAID disbursed $23.6 million for the purpose of “Elections” to Bangladesh. For the same purpose, India has received only a fraction of that amount — less than half a million dollars between 2013 and 2018.

What happened: Soon after assuming the Oval Office for a second term, President Donald Trump made several major controversial changes, including dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) without following due process.

While this move had far-reaching ramifications across the globe, the proverbial faeces hit the fan in the subcontinent when the Elon Musk-led federal cost-cutting initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), shared a list of USAID grants that included India. A sum of $21 million was allegedly going to be spent in the country to boost voter turnout. This was, per DOGE, part of a larger $486 million funding to the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening or CEPPS for election-related programs worldwide.