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| - Did the U.S. government spend or plan to spend $50 million exclusively on condoms in Gaza? No, that's not true: There's no evidence that the U.S. government intended to spend that much money just on condoms for the small territory. U.S. aid to Gaza is focused on humanitarian needs like food, medical supplies and other essential help. The U.S. State Department told Lead Stories that the Trump administration blocked two $50 million aid packages for Gaza but didn't say how much of that money was meant for condoms.
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) published on X on January 28, 2025. The video's caption said:
🚨BREAKING: DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] and OMB (Office of Management and Budget) found that the Biden admin was about to send $37M to the World Health Organization and $50M to fund condoms for Gaza.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Jan 29 16:16:56 2025 UTC)
This post provided no evidence to support the assertion that the U.S. government spent or intended to send $50 million on condoms for Gaza.
The post included a video clip of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying there was "about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza."
Leavitt made these remarks during a White House briefing (archived here) on January 28, 2025. She was discussing the administration's decision to freeze foreign aid and the money she said it was saving. During the briefing, she stated:
DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] and OMB [Office of Management and Budget] also found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza. That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money.
As with the social media post, Leavitt added nothing during the briefing to back her claim.
The next morning, on January 29, 2025, Leavitt briefly spoke with reporters on the White House driveway. She did not answer a question about the source of the "condoms for Gaza" figure she provided earlier.
Also on January 29, 2025, President Donald Trump repeated the claim at the bill signing for the Laken Riley Act (archived here). He said his administration was looking for government waste and fraud:
In that process, we identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas, $50 million.
Trump's comments are embedded below:
As with Leavitt, the president provided no proof to support the claim.
Lead Stories asked the White House for a response, but did not receive one.
United States Agency for International Development
American humanitarian and development assistance to other countries is distributed through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Lead Stories found two documents that help clarify whether the $50 million claim is accurate.
A report from April 2024, called Overview of Contraceptive and Condom Shipments Funded with United States Government Family Planning Funds (archived here), shows that the United States spent $60.8 million on contraceptives and condoms but only $7.1 million of that amount was for male condoms and another $1.1 million for female condoms. None of them went to Gaza.
The only Middle Eastern country to receive a contraceptive/condom shipment that year was Jordan. It was worth about $45,000 and was the first shipment to the region in five years, the report said.
Additionally, a 2019 USAID report (archived here) shows the Trump White House funding the same program at $39.1 million.
Gaza aid
A USAID press release (archived here) from September 30, 2024, announced $336 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This brought the total U.S. aid to more than $1 billion since the Gaza war started in October 2023. The press release said:
This additional funding will enable USAID partners to continue providing life-saving humanitarian aid, including vital food assistance, expanded support in emergency health care, nutrition, psychosocial services, and increased access to safe drinking water, hygiene products, and sanitation services. This funding will also support emergency shelter assistance to displaced Gazans to help them prepare for the upcoming winter months.
There's nothing in the press release that suggested any of the money for "life-saving humanitarian aid" was going for condoms.
State Department
In a January 29, 2025, email to Lead Stories, a State Department spokesperson doubled down on the $50 million claim, saying the "Trump administration stopped two $50 million buckets of 'aid' for Gaza," which included "Family planning programming including emergency contraception; Sexual healthcare including prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs); and Adolescent sexual and reproductive health." The statement continued:
The $100 million for these programs included contraceptives. Condoms have traditionally always been used for family planning in developing countries by USAID.
The State Department didn't answer our questions about how much of the money was designated for the purchase of condoms.
Read more
More Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Donald Trump can be found here.
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