USAID didn’t fund voter turnout in India: US embassy’s data contradicts Trump

The US Embassy in India has contradicted President Donald Trump’s claim about election-related funding in India.

The data provided by the US embassy, and shared by the Union government in the parliament, shows that USAID did not provide any funds for any election-related activity in India. There was no entry of $21 million in the list of India-related grants.

Earlier in February, Trump had claimed that USAID had given $21 million to increase voter turnout in Indian elections. The basis of the claim was a post on X by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) that said it had cancelled “$21M for voter turnout in India” among a host of other grants.

US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all which have been cancelled:
– $10M for “Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision”
– $9.7M for UC Berkeley to develop “a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills”
– $2.3M for “strengthening…

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 15, 2025

Trump had alleged that the previous Democratic Party’s administration had interfered in Indian elections. He also questioned the basis of providing funds to a foreign country’s elections and used it as a talking point in his campaign to dismantle government grants, departments, and programmes, including the USAID.

“$21 million going to my friend Prime Minister Modi in India for voter turnout. We are giving $21 million for voter turnout in India. What about us? I want voter turnout too,” said Trump on one occasion.

US embassy contradicts Trump’s claim

After Doge on February 16 claimed that it had revoked grants for Indian elections, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reached out to the US embassy and requested to urgently furnish details of expenditure incurred on all USAID-assisted or funded projects in India over the last 10 years other than those being implemented under the seven run in partnership with the government, the government told the parliament in response to the question of CPI-M MP John Brittas.

The answer, signed by Kirti Vardhan Singh, the Minister of State for External Affairs, said that the US embassy replied with the information on July 2.

In its response, the US embassy provided the list of all funds provided by the USAID, Singh told the parliament.

The list —see below— did not have any election-related grants.

The US embassy further said that USAID would cease operations in India on August 15, as per Singh’s answer.

What did Trump say about Indian elections?

Based on the Doge’s claim, Trump said that the previous administration were trying to get someone other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi elected with their interventions in Indian elections.

On one occasion, Trump said, “Twenty-one million dollars in voter turnout — why do we need to spend 21 million for voter turnout in India? I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected. We have got to tell the Indian Government because when we hear that Russia spent about $2,000 in our country, it was a big deal. They took some internet ads for $2,000. This is a total breakthrough.”

On another occasion, Trump also called it a “kickback scheme”.