The US President Donald Trump defended the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), chaired by Elon Musk, on Tuesday, February 18, for cancelling a $21 million award that was intended to increase voting turnout in India.
Trump raised concerns about foreign meddling in India’s election process by questioning the utilization of US taxpayer funds for this project.
“Why are we giving $21 million to India? They got 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 $21 million for voter turnout? In India? What about voter turnout here?” Trump said at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Earlier on Saturday, the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), directed by Elon Musk, declared that the $21 million financial allocation intended to increase “voter turnout in India” will be cancelled.
The significant $21 million allotment for “voter turnout in India” was among the numerous US taxpayer-funded expenses that were cancelled, according to the official DOGE handle on social media.
As stated by the department headed by Musk, “US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all of which have been cancelled.”
The grant was cancelled as part of a broader list of expenses that DOGE eliminated, which also included:
- $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 independent voices in Cambodia”
- $32M to the Prague Civil Society Centre
- $40M for “gender equality and women empowerment hub”
- $14M for “improving public procurement” in Serbia
- $486M to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening,” including $22M for “inclusive and participatory political process” in Moldova and $21M for voter turnout in India
- $29M to “strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh”
- $20M for “fiscal federalism” in Nepal
- $19M for “biodiversity conservation” in Nepal
- $1.5M for “voter confidence” in Liberia
- $14M for “social cohesion” in Mali
- $2.5M for “inclusive democracies in Southern Africa
- $47M for “improving learning outcomes in Asia”
- $2M to develop “sustainable recycling models” to “increase socio-economic cohesion among marginalized communities of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali, and Egypt”
