The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is under heavy scrutiny after a crackdown by the Donald Trump administration. The US president signed an executive order to pause foreign assistance by the agency for 90 days, alleging “USAID is being run by radical lunatics." He vowed he would end the "waste, fraud and abuse" by the agency. 

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Meanwhile, in a video on the social media platform YouTube, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Brian Mast exposed a list of shocking spending by the agency. 

Also read: Trump admin places USAID global staff on leave, orders them to return home

From allocating condoms worth millions to the Taliban to funding LGBTQ 'propaganda', here are some major spendings: 

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$15 million for condoms for the Taliban 

In a shocking claim, Mast said the USAID allocated condoms worth $15 million to the Afghanistan-ruling Taliban, an extremist group known for curbing women's rights in the country. Mocking the expenditure, Mast said, "I don't think anybody's going to die because we don't give the Taliban any more condoms." 

$446,000 to promote atheism

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Mast further claimed in the video that around half a million dollars were used to promote atheism in Nepal through the State Department. 

Also read: ‘Won’t allow insubordination’: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio becomes USAID acting director

$350 million for a pier in Gaza 

It was also claimed in the video that a massive sum of $350 million was spent to build a pier in Gaza, allegedly to facilitate humanitarian aid in the region. 

$1 million to boost French-speaking LGBTQ groups

USAID, through the State Department, funded LGBTQ activism in West and Central Africa with a sum of $1 million.

$47,000 for transgender opera 

Also read: President Donald Trump agrees USAID needs to be ‘shut down’: Elon Musk

It was further claimed that the US government under the Biden administration spent around $47,000 to fund a transgender-themed opera in Columbia. 

$20,600 for drag show

Furthermore, USAID, as per Mast, paid a significant amount of $20,600 to fund drag performances in Ecuador. He further said that Fundación Diálogo Diverso, an LGBTQ organisation in Ecuador, received nearly $75,000 over three years. The fund was used to organise a two-day drag workshop and the event was documented as well. 

Also read: USAID to grant $115 million in aid to El Salvador to stem migration

(With inputs from agencies)