New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the US embassy has contradicted claims that US President Donald Trump made earlier. The embassy said that USAID had not allocated $21 million to boost India’s voter turnout.
Kirti Vardhan Singh, the Minister of State for External Affairs, said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha that the US Embassy in New Delhi has informed India, which contradicts Trump’s claim. It has said, “USAID/India did not receive or provide funding of $21 million for voter turnout in India from fiscal years 2014 to 2024, nor has it implemented any voter turnout-related activities in India.”
What did Trump’s US government claim?
In February 2025, the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) publicly posted that it had cancelled $486 million in USAID funds. Notably, it claimed that the fund included a $21 million earmark to boost India’s voter turnout. While speaking about the misuse of US aid, Trump himself cited this as an example.
It prompted the MEA to seek urgent details from the US embassy regarding all projects in India funded by the USAID in the last 10 years. In July, the embassy gave a breakdown of the funds and said that no money was given to boost voter turnouts in India.
Also, the MEA has confirmed that USAID operations have come to an end in India. On August 11, the US embassy notified India that all seven Partnership Agreements with the government had been closed since the USAID had dissolved all over the world.
As per the official figures presented in Parliament, the USAID funding in India between 2022 and 2024 was for education for marginalized children, programs supporting Tibetan communities, air pollution mitigation, HIV/AIDS interventions, and renewable energy projects.
