US President Donald Trump has renewed his attack on USAID’s international spending, alleging that the agency funnelled $29 million to support a “radical left communist” in Bangladesh.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington on Saturday, Trump expressed his indignation, stating, “$29 million goes to strengthen the political landscape and help them out so that they can vote for a radical left communist in Bangladesh. You’ve got to see who they supported!”
This marks the second consecutive day of Trump’s criticism of the USAID grant, following similar accusations made at the White House Governors Working Session on Friday.
Trump further alleged that the funds were allocated to a little-known entity, which he described as “a small outfit” with only two employees.
“They got $29 million. A cheque! Imagine scraping by with $10,000 here, $10,000 there—and then, bam, $29 million from the US government,” he remarked.
“Two people! They’re very happy. Very rich. They’ll be on the cover of a top business magazine—for being great scammers,” Trump quipped.
His criticism extended to India as well, questioning an $18 million USAID grant for elections there. “Why the hell? Why don’t we use paper ballots and let them help us with our elections? Voter ID—that’d be nice. We’re giving money to India for elections. They don’t need it. They slap 200% tariffs on us, and we’re handing them cash!” he said.
On 16 February, the Elon Musk-led US Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE) announced new measures to curb wasteful spending, cutting funding to 17 international projects, including one in Bangladesh.
The Strengthening Political Landscape (SPL) programme in Bangladesh, supported by USAID and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented by Democracy International from 2017 to 2024, aimed to enhance political party capacity, foster party-constituent engagement, and mitigate political violence.
