US President Donald Trump has one again questioned the United States’ allocation of USD 21 million for voter turnout efforts in India, comparing it to concerns over foreign interference in American elections while addressing the FII PRIORITY Summit in Miami, Florida.
Highlighting the disparity in reactions, he stated, “21 million dollars in 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.”
Trump further pointed out India’s strong economic position and high tariffs on US goods, stating, “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.”
While maintaining his respect for India and its Prime Minister, Trump questioned the necessity of spending millions on voter turnout in a foreign country, adding, “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 USD 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 USD 500 million, didn’t we? It’s called the lockboxes.”
Turning to the ongoing war in Ukraine earlier on Wednesday, Trump criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of persuading the United States to invest billions in what he described as an unwinnable war.
He claimed the US had spent significantly more than Europe, with no financial returns, stating, “The United States has spent USD 200 billion dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump also accused Zelenskyy of poor governance and refusing to hold elections, writing, “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.”
