President Trump firmly stood by his unusual statement accusing Joe Biden of sending a staggering $50 million worth of condoms to Gaza, which were allegedly repurposed by Hamas for making explosives.
As announced by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, it was revealed that Elon Musk’s team for reducing costs identified this exorbitant amount, among other expenses covered by taxpayers without their knowledge.
Leavitt astonishingly declared that the US was supplying $50 million worth of condoms annually to Gaza, while also justifying the Trump administration’s choice to halt foreign aid.
She said: “Doge [the Department for Government Efficiency] and the OMB [Office of Management and Budget] found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza.
“That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money.”
Leavitt added that DOGE and OBM also found a whopping $37 million was about to be sent to the World Heath Organization before Trump’s executive order to exit the global health body.
Questions swirled following the briefing on whether there was any evidence to support Leavitt’s statement.
And various claims emerged that the condoms were being used by Hamas as balloons to float explosives into Israel.
Tesla tycoon and leader of Doge Musk posted on X that Leavitt’s claim was “the tip of the iceberg” and that his “guess” is “that a lot of that money ended up in the pockets [of] Hamas, not actually condoms.”
It is unclear if this has been done since.
But now President Trump has doubled down on the claim.
He said in a recent briefing: “We identified and stopped $50 million dollars being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas – $50 million.
“And do you know what’s happened to them? They’ve used them as a method of making bombs – how about that?”
Condoms were reportedly being used in 2020 to create IED-carrying balloons that winds would blow into southern Israel, raising terrifying alarm on schoolyards, farmlands and highways, according to the Jerusalem Post.
At the time it was claimed that the improvised explosives floated into Israel via inflated contraceptives which resulted in thousands of hectares of lands being burned – also causing “million of shekels of damage”.
Andrew Miller, who served as deputy assistant secretary for Israeli-Palestinian affairs under Biden, dubbed Leavitt’s claim as “outlandish”.
He said: “It’s possible that $50 million is put aside for sexual health or something of that nature, which would include gynaecology and many other services, but definitely not condoms alone.”
The State Department have not repeated Leavitt’s claim of the condom expenditure.
The comments come in response to Trump’s executive order of “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” which was issued last week.
Trump has also revealed the truth behind the mysterious drones that Biden’s team had kept secret – but his explanation has only raised more questions.
At the first press briefing of his second term, Don’s press secretary Leavitt said the drones seen over New Jersey were “not the enemy”.
She added that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had authorized the drones for research and other unspecified reasons.
“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,” Leavitt said, reading directly from Trump’s statement.
“Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones.
“In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”
Leavitt said the information had come “directly from the president of the United States that was just shared with me in the Oval Office.”
Trump’s executive orders
TRUMP kicked off his second term by starting to give the US a MAGA makeover.
These are some of the executive orders he has already signed:
ON IMMIGRATION
Trump declared an official national emergency at the US-Mexico border – meaning he can use federal funding to build a wall along the boundary without the permission of Congress.
While signing the order, he said “That’s a big one. People have wanted to do this for years.”
He also signed a directive to end birthright citizenship – when a person born on US soil is given American citizenship.
CLIMATE CRUNCH
Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement – just as he did at the beginning of his first term.
He said last Monday: “I’m immediately withdrawing from the one-sided Paris Climate Accord ripoff.
“The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity.”
He also pulled out of the WHO – meaning the organisation will be millions of dollars worse off – and certain global vaccination directives will no longer apply to the US.
TIKTOK PLANS
Social media site TikTok recently came under fire in the US because of its Chinese parent company – ByteDance.
It went offline during a brief ban in America last Sunday – but was back again with a notification thanking “President Trump” for his efforts.
After officially taking office on Monday he signed an executive order to block the ban from taking effect for a further 90 days.
CREATING ‘DOGE’
The infamous Department of Government Efficiency – an apparent brainchild of Trump and his pal tech tycoon Elon Musk – is a long-awaited fixture of the new administration.
Trump officially forged it with an executive order by changing the name of the Digital Service – created in 2014 by Obama – to the “United States DOGE Service.”
The department is set to oversee huge federal budget cuts to reduce “the size and scope of government”.
SECURITY CLEARANCES
Trump also signed two executive orders relating to security clearance levels.
One allows White House employees to obtain top secret levels of clearance without going through the traditional vetting process.
Another removes security clearances for some 51 former intelligence officials who signed a letter saying that a news story about Hunter Biden’s laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
TRANSGENDER RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MEASURES
Trump fulfilled one of his longer campaign promises to curtail the rights of transgender people with an executive order.
The directive said his administration would be sure to use “clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.”
“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” it read.
“These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
He then signed an order crushing federal programs designed to improve diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace – dubbing them “wasteful, illegal and immoral”.
