The President of the United States, Donald Trump, boasted that his administration had prevented $ 50 million in bombs condoms from being sent to Gaza.
Trump has provided no evidence of his statements – that condoms were sent to Gaza or that Hamas uses contraceptives to make bombs – and let many people wonder what the American president was talking about.
But there may be an explanation. A bizarre.
Here is what you need to know about Trump’s assertion that the United States sent condoms to Hamas until it stops the current:
What exactly is Trump?
Trump has made the contraceptive complaint while listing the achievements of his administration since his entry into office.
“We identified and arrested $ 50 million sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas,” Trump said on Wednesday. “They used them as a method of manufacturing bombs. And that?
Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary of the White House, made a similar complaint Tuesday during her first press briefing. She said that the Ministry of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) and the Management and Budget Office (OMB) “found that there were on the point that there were $ 50 million from taxpayers who were Released to finance condoms in Gaza ”.
She called the alleged help “an absurd waste of taxpayers’ money”.
Jesse Watters, host of a conservative talk show on Fox News, said that Hamas used nonexistent American expeditions to make “condom bombs”, floating balloons loaded with explosives in Israel. Did he share evidence to support this bombed complaint? No.
Why did the White House do the condoms?
Trump seems to have made the charge to frame Gaza as an example of expenses of foreign aid in the United States. Its administration justified its suspension of almost all foreign aid by highlighting examples of “blatant funding”, such as contraception and reproductive health programs.
The administration indicates that it is examining to ensure that the tens of billions of dollars in American foreign assistance are aligned with Trump’s foreign policy “America First” and not a waste of taxpayers.
The United States is by far the largest donor of aid in the world. During fiscal 2023, he spent $ 72 billion in the world’s world, from women’s health to conflict areas to access to drinking water, HIV / AIDS treatment , energy security and anti-corruption work.
Shortly after his return to the post for a second term on January 20, Trump ordered a 90 -day freeze on foreign aid to ensure that the aid is in accordance with the policies of his administration, which is opposed to abortion, transgender rights and diversity programs.
Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said in a memo that the United States joined almost all disbursements with the exception of emergency food aid and military aid to Egypt and Israel.
How many condoms can you buy with $ 50 million?
International President of Refugees, Jeremy Konyndyk, who supervised the American Development Agency for International Development (USAID) for the administration of President Joe Biden, refuted Trump and Leavitt’s demands as unrealistic.
“USAID gets condoms for around $ 0.05 each,” he wrote on Wednesday on X. “50 million dollars would cost a billion condoms. What is happening here is not a billion Condoms for Gaza.
So look – on the “Gaza reta” thing.
USAID gets condoms for around $ 0.05 each.
$ 50 million would cost a billion condoms.
What is happening here is not a billion condoms for Gaza.
What is happening is that Doge’s brothers can not see the govt spreadsheets.
– Jeremy Konyndyk is in Jeremykonyndyk.bsky.social (@jeremykonyndyk) January 29, 2025
Did the United States really send $ 50 million in condoms to Gaza?
There is no evidence accessible to the public of plans for millions of dollars of taxpayers to spend to finance condoms in Gaza, and an official of the State Ministry did not respond to a request for proofs from the agency Reuters press.
However, there is a lot of evidence that seems to refute Trump’s claim.
In a press release on Wednesday, the international Medical Corps (BMI), an organization that received American money to provide medical care in Gaza, detailed its work in the enclave. He said: “No funding from the US government has been used to obtain or distribute condoms or provide family planning services.”
His statement added that BMI has received more than $ 68 million from USAID since October 7, 2023, which was used to operate two major field hospitals in Gaza, including for surgical care, the treatment of malnutrition and maternal and emergency newborn care.
No report accessible to the public of Doge or OMB reflects a plan to spend $ 100 million for BMI operations in Gaza.
The reports of the 2007 to 2023 exercises on the contraceptives and the condoms sent by the USAID in the rest of the world do not show any file of condoms shipped to Gaza.
A former deputy deputy secretary of defense for the Middle East, Dana Stroul, said USAID in an X post on Wednesday that the USAID had not spent money for Gaza during the year 2023.
An April report from the USAID shows that the United States has delivered $ 60.8 million in contraceptives and condoms to four regions-the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean – during the previous year.
The Middle East received only $ 45,681 while Africa received more than $ 54 million, or 89% of contraceptives during the year 2023.
The report added that the $ 45,681 was fully made in Jordan and included oral contraceptives and injectable contraceptives but did not include condoms.
USAID reports also show deliveries in the Middle East during the 2019, 2013, 2012, 2009, 2008 and 2007, which none of which mentions deliveries in Gaza.
As part of the Trump administration, USAID delivered $ 1.1 million in the Middle East during the 2019 financial year. All basic products went to Yemen, including male and female and female condoms and Several types of contraceptives.
Did Trump think of a different Gaza?
The US Ministry of Health and Social Services (HHS) is funding organizations around the world that carry out health -related projects, including reproductive health.
Could it be that Trump and his administration refer to another Gaza? After all, there are more than a dozen places around the world named Gaza, including two communities in the United States.
For the moment, why Trump has made the complaint and what proof he was unknown.
But it is interesting to note that depending on the HHS grant database, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids foundation in Mozambique has received more than $ 83 million in funding since 2021.
The money was allocated to reproductive health projects in two of the country’s provinces: Inhambane and Gaza.
This funding should continue until September 2026, according to the details of the grant.
It is not clear if the Mozambique has lost funding due to any confusion in its province of Gaza.