Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
FACT FOCUS: No Evidence That $50 Million Was Designated by the US to Buy Condoms for Hamas
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 1 week ago on
January 29, 2025

Claims about US funding for condoms in Gaza stem from misinterpreted details of a broader USAID medical assistance package. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

During a signing ceremony Wednesday for the Laken Riley Act, President Donald Trump claimed that his administration had “identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas.”

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, made a similiar claim on Tuesday during her debut press briefing, stating that the Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Management and Budget “found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza.” She called the alleged aid “a preposterous waste of taxpayer money.”

But there’s no credible evidence to support these claims. Here’s a closer look at the facts:

CLAIM: The Trump administration stopped $50 million from being sent to the Gaza Strip to buy condoms for Hamas.

THE FACTS: Trump and his spokesperson appeared to be referring to a grant or grants that USAID awarded to a group called the International Medical Corps worth $102.2 million to provide medical and trauma services in Gaza. The State Department earlier Wednesday described this as an example of “egregious funding” not aligned with American interests or the president’s policies.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce similarly wrote Tuesday on X that the agency had “prevented $102 million in unjustified funding to a contractor in Gaza, including money for contraception” thanks to a pause in foreign assistance.

However, the vast majority of that money was to fund mobile emergency hospitals and trauma centers and to send doctors, surgeons and other medical and mental health professionals to assist with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, according to IMC. This included water, sanitation and hygiene services and prenatal and postnatal care.

If condoms were part of the hygiene component, they would not have accounted for nearly half of the grant money.

Refugees International President Jeremy Konyndyk, who oversaw USAID’s COVID-19 assistance portfolio for the Biden administration, refuted Trump and Leavitt’s claimsWednesday on X.

“USAID procures condoms for around $0.05 apiece,” he wrote. “$50m would be ONE BILLION condoms. What’s going on here is NOT a billion condoms for Gaza. What’s going on is that the bros at DOGE apparently can’t read govt spreadsheets.”

USAID’s financial year 2023 report on contraceptive and condom shipments, the most recent data available, notes that only one Middle Eastern country — Jordan — received a small shipment of injectables and oral contraceptives valued at $45,680 for government programs only. This was USAID’s first shipment to the Middle East since financial year 2019.

USAID reports from the first three-quarters of 2024 show the only family planning programs funded by the agency in the Middle East were in Jordan and Yemen.

___

Associated Press writers Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

San Diego Added to Southwest’s Nonstop Destinations From Fresno Airport

DON'T MISS

Clovis Man Gets 27 Years to Life for Attempted Murder of Estranged Wife

DON'T MISS

$3 Million Gift Will Mean Laptops, Solar Panels, Larger Chapel for This Fresno University

DON'T MISS

Ohtani’s Ex-Interpreter Is Sentenced to 4 Years and 9 Months in Sports Betting Case

DON'T MISS

NCAA Changes Transgender Policy to Limit Women’s Competition to Athletes Assigned Female at Birth

DON'T MISS

Israel Starts Planning for Palestinians to Leave Gaza Despite International Rejection

DON'T MISS

Mayor Says Fresno Needs High-Speed Rail Despite Cost Overruns

DON'T MISS

12 States to Sue Over DOGE Access to Government Payment Systems Containing Personal Data

DON'T MISS

Irv Gotti, Music Executive Who Created Murder Inc. Records, Dies at 54

DON'T MISS

ABC30 Has a New News Director. She’s a Familiar TV Face.

UP NEXT

Clovis Man Gets 27 Years to Life for Attempted Murder of Estranged Wife

UP NEXT

$3 Million Gift Will Mean Laptops, Solar Panels, Larger Chapel for This Fresno University

UP NEXT

Ohtani’s Ex-Interpreter Is Sentenced to 4 Years and 9 Months in Sports Betting Case

UP NEXT

NCAA Changes Transgender Policy to Limit Women’s Competition to Athletes Assigned Female at Birth

UP NEXT

Israel Starts Planning for Palestinians to Leave Gaza Despite International Rejection

UP NEXT

Mayor Says Fresno Needs High-Speed Rail Despite Cost Overruns

UP NEXT

12 States to Sue Over DOGE Access to Government Payment Systems Containing Personal Data

UP NEXT

Irv Gotti, Music Executive Who Created Murder Inc. Records, Dies at 54

UP NEXT

ABC30 Has a New News Director. She’s a Familiar TV Face.

UP NEXT

California’s EV Sales Stall. So What Happens to Landmark Mandate?

Ohtani’s Ex-Interpreter Is Sentenced to 4 Years and 9 Months in Sports Betting Case

13 hours ago

NCAA Changes Transgender Policy to Limit Women’s Competition to Athletes Assigned Female at Birth

13 hours ago

Israel Starts Planning for Palestinians to Leave Gaza Despite International Rejection

13 hours ago

Mayor Says Fresno Needs High-Speed Rail Despite Cost Overruns

13 hours ago

12 States to Sue Over DOGE Access to Government Payment Systems Containing Personal Data

13 hours ago

Irv Gotti, Music Executive Who Created Murder Inc. Records, Dies at 54

13 hours ago

ABC30 Has a New News Director. She’s a Familiar TV Face.

14 hours ago

California’s EV Sales Stall. So What Happens to Landmark Mandate?

14 hours ago

31 Arrested in Fresno Human Trafficking Operation

14 hours ago

Find Your Next Career Opportunity Today at FUSD Expo

15 hours ago

San Diego Added to Southwest’s Nonstop Destinations From Fresno Airport

Southwest Airlines added a fourth nonstop destination to routes to and from Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Beginning Oct. 2, travele...

11 hours ago

11 hours ago

San Diego Added to Southwest’s Nonstop Destinations From Fresno Airport

11 hours ago

Clovis Man Gets 27 Years to Life for Attempted Murder of Estranged Wife

11 hours ago

$3 Million Gift Will Mean Laptops, Solar Panels, Larger Chapel for This Fresno University

Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star Shohei Ohtani arrives at federal court for bank and tax fraud sentencing on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP/Damian Dovarganes)
13 hours ago

Ohtani’s Ex-Interpreter Is Sentenced to 4 Years and 9 Months in Sports Betting Case

The San Jose State University Spartans line up for the playing of the national anthem and player introductions for their NCAA Mountain West women's volleyball game against the Colorado State University Rams in Fort Collins, Colo., on Oct. 3, 2024. (AP File)
13 hours ago

NCAA Changes Transgender Policy to Limit Women’s Competition to Athletes Assigned Female at Birth

13 hours ago

Israel Starts Planning for Palestinians to Leave Gaza Despite International Rejection

13 hours ago

Mayor Says Fresno Needs High-Speed Rail Despite Cost Overruns

13 hours ago

12 States to Sue Over DOGE Access to Government Payment Systems Containing Personal Data

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend