U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized the allocation of $29 million in USAID funding for political development in Bangladesh, stating that the money was awarded to an obscure firm. Speaking on February 21 at the Governors Working Session in Washington, D.C., Trump questioned how a small company, virtually unknown, could receive such a large sum, noting that it had only two employees. He suggested that these individuals had unfairly profited from the grant and sarcastically remarked that they might soon be featured in business magazines as “great scammers.”

Trump also expressed concerns over $21 million in U.S. funding allocated to India for voter turnout efforts, referencing Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He questioned why American taxpayer money was being used for such purposes abroad while the U.S. itself also needed support for voter participation.

On February 16, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a cost-cutting body under the U.S. government, posted on X that funding for 11 overseas programs had been canceled. This included the $29 million Bangladesh project aimed at strengthening its political landscape and another initiative in India focused on voter engagement.

According to Democracy International, the Strengthening Political Landscape in Bangladesh (SPL) program, jointly funded by USAID and the UK’s DFID, sought to enhance political party capacity, foster better relationships between political entities and citizens, and reduce political violence. The project was originally scheduled to run from 2017 to 2024.