President Donald Trump has accused his predecessor of wasting taxpayer funds
President Donald Trump’s push for government efficiency has already discovered wasteful spending such as $50 million allocated to purchase condoms for residents of Gaza, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at her first briefing.
Trump established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as a temporary outfit shortly after being sworn in last week. The body is headed by tech mogul and major Trump supporter Elon Musk.
DOGE and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) “found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza,” Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday, accusing former President Joe Biden’s administration of “a preposterous waste of taxpayer money.”
Another $37 million was earmarked for the World Health Organization [WHO], which “President Trump, with the swipe of his pen and that executive order, no longer wants the US to be a part of,” Leavitt added.
On Friday, the US State Department ordered a freeze on almost all foreign aid programs for 90 days, pending review to determine whether they line up with the Trump administration’s foreign policy objectives. USAID has already informed NGOs around the world that it was suspending funding until further notice.
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs Andrew Miller told the Times of Israel that Leavitt’s claim was “outlandish.”
“It’s possible that $50 million is for sexual health or something like that, which includes gynecology and many other services, but certainly not just condoms,” Miller said.
According to AFP, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) allocated $60 million in fiscal year 2023 for a variety of contraceptive devices to be sent around the world, not just to Gaza. There are around two million residents in the Palestinian enclave, which has been devastated by a 15-month war with Israel.
During the 2018 tensions with Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli military accused the Palestinian militants of using balloons made from latex condoms to send incendiary and explosive devices across the border. The improvised devices triggered “hundreds” of wildfires, according to the Times of Israel.
At the time, The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was baffled as to where the condoms might be coming from, as they were not produced locally. The WHO had denied supplying Gaza with the contraceptives.
