US President Donald Trump has once again claimed that his predecessor Joe Biden gave $100 million worth of condoms to Hamas. During a speech in Florida, he highlighted the figure and said this was part of wasteful government spending, citing information from billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The 78-year-old, who is into his second term, alleged that they were being used as makeshift bomb balloons, The Independent reported.
It all started last month when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt falsely claimed that DOGE found $50 million allocated for condoms in Gaza. Trump later repeated the false claim, doubling the amount to $100 million and saying the condoms were meant for Hamas.
But last week, Elon Musk, who heads DOGE, admitted that the said money for contraceptives was not meant for Hamas or even for Gaza. He added it was actually for a province in Mozambique.
Musk said, “Some of the things I say will be incorrect and should be corrected.”
A former senior Biden official dismissed the claim as a fabrication, calling it “a lie” and accusing the White House of spreading false information.
According to a new federal report, USAID did not allocate any cash for condoms in the Middle East during the Biden administration’s fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023. The report stated that the only contraceptive funding in the region was a small order of injectables and pills provided to Jordan for approximately $46,000.
So far, both Musk and Trump have made several questionable claims related to funds. The Tesla CEO said on Tuesday that DOGE had already saved $55 billion, but the papers only showed approximately a third of that amount.
Apart from that, two of the organisations Musk said DOGE shut down were terminated during the Biden administration. Funds cut from a contract that he stated was worth $18 billion was actually $18 million.
Not long ago, Musk and Trump claimed that “tens of millions” of deceased individuals were still receiving Social Security benefits.
Kathleen Romig, the director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said “What are they talking about? Half the people are actually dead? The numbers are so ridiculous. It’s not true.”
