The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has spent tens of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars on some shocking expenditures.
USAID was established in 1961 to provide money made by Americans to help countries develop abroad.
However, the agency has closed down because Donald Trump and Elon Musk believe that the assistance provided abroad often misses key U.S. objectives, such as enhancing education and enhancing infrastructure.
‘You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair,’ Musk said of USAID on Monday. ‘We’re shutting it down.’
Now, Musk and the officials at his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are preparing to dismantle the agency and integrate it into the State Department, a plan that the Tesla CEO says Trump supports.
Shortly after assuming office, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio enforced a 90-day halt on most foreign aid spending to allow the new administration to assess how USAID’s $30 billion budget for 2025 is being utilized.
Rubio announced Monday he is now the acting director of USAID.
But some Republicans have been sounding the alarm on USAID for weeks, saying the agency is more focused on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) than diplomacy.
And some USAID receipts show it. DailyMail.com breaks down some of the most shocking ways the agency has spent U.S. taxpayer money.
HIV research about transgenders
The Wits Health Consortium, a South African research facility that studies the transmission of HIV among sex workers and transgender people, has received $30 million from USAID since 2018, federal data shows.
The South African research firm was awarded $38 million dollars in total, but the final $8 million which has yet to be allocated may be slashed after to Trump’s foreign aid review.
‘HIV epidemic control in South Africa pivots on the success of providing appropriate services for key populations, including sex workers (SWS), their clients, and transgender (TG) people,’ the award states.
According to the federal receipts, the award was made to develop ‘a model of provision of accessible clinical interventions for [sex workers].’
Millions to COVID lab in China
The White Coat Waste Project, an anti-animal experimentation group, also uncovered that USAID funded $38 million worth of grants that ended up going to the same lab where COVID-19 is believed to have originated from, the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Serbian LGBTQ group
Another big ticket item that no longer will receive U.S. funding is a pro-LGBTQ organization in Serbia called ‘Grupa Izadji,’ which in English translates to ‘Group Come Out.’
This NGO received $1.5 million from Biden’s administration to ‘advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities, by promoting economic empowerment of and opportunity for LGBTQI+ people in Serbia.’
According to the grant, the Serbian group ‘will foster an environment that increases employment potential for LGBTQI+ persons, expands opportunities for LGBTQI+ entrepreneurs, and reduces workplace discrimination.’
However, Trump’s foreign aid freeze has cut off money from flowing to ‘Grupa Izadji,’ which was expected to be funded through the end of 2025.
Electric vehicles in Vietnam
Another costly foreign aid fund package approved under Joe Biden’s administration awarded $2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam.
Since the huge investment of U.S. taxpayer dollars there has been only one battery station built, avoiding a total of 260 gallons of gas, according to the USAID website.
An average semi-truck holds roughly, by comparison, about 130 gallons of gas.
Other eye-popping USAID initiatives include funding for a documentary highlighting the agency’s efforts propping up the first transgender health care clinic in India.
Trans care clinics
The agency also helped open TransCare Clinic, an operation established to ‘address ongoing gaps in transgender health care across Vietnam,’ according to a September 2024 USAID press release.
LGBTQ initiatives globally
USAID established in 2023 a LGBTQI+ policy to help advance non-heterosexual objectives around the globe.
The policy ‘advances USAID’s commitment to supporting protection, inclusion, and human rights for all so that LGBTQI+ individuals are able to live with dignity and free from all forms of violence, discrimination, stigma, and criminalization,’ a memo announcing the program declared.
Beyond USAID, other taxpayer-funded initiatives have also caught the eyes of GOP lawmakers eager to cut necessary programs or undeserving recipients from federal aid programs.
Operas in Colombia
For example, the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs approved $25,000 for an opera in Colombia in order to increase ‘transgender representation’ in the arts. In addition to the government funding the group received $22,000 in private funding as well.
‘So, $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia. That was a real one,’ House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast revealed to DailyMail.com last week.
Peruvian trans comic books
The Peruvian trans comic book program received $32,000 under former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to federal documents.
Mast said: ‘Let’s see, there was a transgender comic book, we’re trying to get our hands on the actual comic book, in Peru. And I heard it’s reasonably risqué.’
Efforts to ‘expand atheism’ abroad
Mast has also descrbied how the U.S. has spent $500,000 to expand atheism in Nepal.
