EXCLUSIVETrump strips millions from DEI foreign aid programs funding Irish musicals, LGBTQ programs in Serbia and more
- A top Republican is revealing the costly foreign aid projects frozen by Trump
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Donald Trump's order freezing foreign aid has sealed the spigot of U.S. taxpayer dollars flowing to DEI projects abroad, saving U.S. money from being 'lit on fire,' a top Republican says.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-Fla.) has revealed exclusively to DailyMail.com some suspicious federal expenditures that the State Department approved under Joe Biden.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, meant to expand diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) objectives abroad, are now effectively killed under Trump's foreign aid freeze.
One of the big ticket items that no longer will receive U.S. funding is a pro LGBTQ group in Serbia through a group called 'Grupa Izadji,' which in English translates to 'Group Come Out.'
This NGO received $1.5 million from Biden's administration to 'advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities, by promoting economic empowerment of and opportunity for LGBTQI+ people in Serbia.'
According to the grant, the Serbian group 'will foster an environment that increases employment potential for LGBTQI+ persons, expands opportunities for LGBTQI+ entrepreneurs, and reduces workplace discrimination.'
However, Trump's foreign aid freeze has cut off money from flowing to 'Grupa Izadji,' which was expected to be funded through the end of FY 2025.
Projects like that and others that push DEI, like a $70,000 grant to a group in Ireland to produce a DEI musical in 2022, will now be crushed by Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Mast says.
A photo of posted on pro-LGBT Serbian Grupa Izadji's website. The group has already recieved $1.5 million from the U.S. to enhance LGBT employment opportunities
Biden's administration awarded $2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam. As of December 2024, the effort has saved 260 gallons of gas, the same amount of gas held by two average semi-trucks
President Donald Trump's foreign aid freeze has halted money flowing to Stat Department grants
'America would have been better off if Biden and Blinken had lit your money on fire, instead of spending it on DEI musicals in Ireland or creating jobs for LGBTQ Serbians in Serbia,' he told DailyMail.com in a statement.
Trump's foreign aid freeze 'is common sense versus crazy' he added, slamming the costly foreign projects.
The Irish DEI musical fund was approved specifically made to 'deliver a live musical event to promote the U.S. and Irish shared values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility,' according to the grant.
Another one of these costly foreign aid funds approved under Biden's administration awarded $2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam.
Since the huge investment of U.S. taxpayer dollars there has been at least one battery station built, avoiding a total of 260 gallons of gas, according to the USAID website.
An average semi-truck holds roughly, by comparison, holds about 130 gallons of gas.
Earlier this week Mast revealed other jaw-dropping projects that U.S. taxpayers were funding in Afghanistan, Peru, Gaza and Colombia.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week that the Biden administration almost sent $50 million taxpayer dollars worth of condoms to Gaza, which she called 'a preposterous waste of taxpayer money!'
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House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast told DailyMail.com that Biden's State Department funded a transgender opera in Colombia and a transgender advocacy comic book in Peru
The U.S. government gave $70,000 to a group in Ireland to create a DEI musical. Above theater goers are shown lining up to watch the 'Hamilton' musical in Dublin
Joe Biden (L) and former Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) oversaw the State Department when it approved the millions for Serbian LBGT advancement and Vietnam's electric vehicle efforts
'There was about to be $50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza!' Leavitt shockingly claimed.
Though later the press secretary's claims were debunked after it was reported that just a portion of the $50 million was set aside for family planning like contraception.
Mast also blew the lid on a USAID program that awarded '$47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia.'
The chairman also revealed the U.S. government funded a Peruvian 'transgender comic book' that costed $32,000.
'We're trying to get our hands on the actual comic book, in Peru,' Mast previously told DailyMail.com. 'And I heard it's reasonably risqué.'
Th Republican called the projects 'crazy' and vowed similar programs will soon be shuttered.
'These are drops in the bucket of the American budget, but they're still ridiculous and stupid,' The Republican said of the programs that he is working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump to dismantle.
Rubio himself even noticed the State Department after being sworn in that major program reforms could be expected.
'Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions,' his memo stated, adding only initiatives that 'make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous' are appropriate.
'Certain priorities will be replaced, certain issues deemphasized, and some practices we will cease altogether,' his statement continued.
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