The Trump administration’s recent decision to suspend all US foreign aid also involved the suspension of the outflow of $50 million of the US taxpayers’ money being used for funding condoms in Gaza. During a press briefing on 28th January, US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) discovered that around $50 million was used for funding purchase of condoms in the Gaza Strip. Terming the aid a ‘preposterous waste of taxpayer money’, she said the Trump administration is acting as the caretaker of the public money.
“DOGE and OMB also found that there was about to be 50 million dollars of taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gza. That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money. So that’s what this pause is focused on – being good stewards of tax dollars”, said Leavitt. She further added that the suspension of the foreign is not a permanent decision but a revaluation of the existing foreign aid policy to ensure that it is aligned with the ‘priorities of the American people’.
“No new funds shall be obligated for new awards or extensions of existing awards until each proposed new award or extension has been reviewed and approved, ” Secretary of Stae Marco Rubino said in an internal memo.
Elon Musk suspects the US aid was being used to fund Hamas
Head of DOGE, Elon Musk expressed doubt over the US funding for condoms in Gaza and said that the money went to the terrorist group Hamas.”My guess is that a lot of that money ended up in the pockets of Hamas, and not actually condoms,” Musk wrote on X. ‘Yes, even in the unlikely event that the money was actually spent on condoms, we should NOT be sending US taxpayer money to buy condoms for foreigners,” he said.
My guess is that a lot of that money ended up in the pockets Hamas, not actually condoms
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2025
Condom balloons used for carrying explosives into Israel
As per reports, the Jerusalem Post reported in 2020 that condoms were being used to create IED-carrying balloons that wind would carry into schoolyards, agricultural fields, highways, etc. in southern Israel. These IEDs carried through inflated condoms into the territory of Israel reportedly burned thousands of hectares of land and caused ‘millions of shekels of damage’.
Several balloons with rocket-propelled grenades attached were discovered near a gas station by security staff in 2019. The condoms were reportedly supplied by either local Palestinian organisations or by international humanitarian aid organisations.
Trump passed an order freezing all foreign aid
Within hours of assuming office on 20th January, President Trump passed an order ‘Revaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid’ imposing a 90-day moratorium on US foreign development assistance pending a review of the efficiencies and consistency of his policy. The order applied to all international US funding except military assistance given to Israel and Egypt.
