US President Donald Trump has once again questioned the United States’ decision to allocate $21 million for voter turnout efforts in India. Speaking at the FII PRIORITY Summit in Miami, he said, “$21 million for voter turnout, why do we need to spend $21 million for voter turnout in India? I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected.”
“We have got to tell the Indian Government. Because when we hear that Russia spent about two thousand dollars in our country, it was a big deal. They took some internet ads for two thousand dollars. This is a total breakthrough,” he added.
Trump pointed out India’s strong economic position and high tariffs on US goods, saying, “They got a lot of money. They’re one of the highest taxing countries in the world in terms of us. We can hardly get in there because their tariffs are so high.”
Despite his concerns, Trump maintained his respect for India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Referring to Modi’s recent visit to the US, he said, “I have a lot of respect for India. I have a lot of respect for the prime minister. He just left, as you know, two days ago. But we’re giving $21 million for voter turnout. It’s voter turnout in India. What about, like, voter turnout here? Oh, we’ve done that, I guess. We did $500 million, didn’t we? It’s called the lockboxes.”
Trump criticises US spending in Ukraine
Shifting the focus to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Trump also took aim at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of persuading the US to pour billions into what he called an “unwinnable war.”
“The United States has spent $200 billion more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back,” Trump asserted. He claimed that Ukraine had received significantly more financial support from the US than from European nations, questioning the returns on such an investment.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump went further, accusing Zelenskyy of poor governance and a lack of democratic accountability. “On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is ‘MISSING.’ He refuses to have elections, is very low in Ukrainian polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle.’ A dictator without elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a country left,” Trump wrote.