No evidence that Trump administration blocked $50 million for condoms in Gaza
Official records from USAID and IMC contradict claims that the U.S. had allocated $50 million for condoms in Gaza
CLAIM
U.S. President Donald Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Elon Musk, and several high-profile pundits have claimed that the Trump administration prevented $50 million from being spent on condoms in Gaza.
BACKGROUND
At her first briefing as White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt claimed that the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and the Office of Management had blocked a payment of $50 million to fund condoms in Gaza as part of the government’s freeze on foreign aid.
“Doge and OMB also found that there was about to be 50m taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza,” Leavitt said. “That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money. So that’s what this pause is focused on: being good stewards of tax dollars.”
Despite offering no evidence to support the claim, the statement quickly went viral, with Elon Musk sharing the clip on X.
Fox News pundit Jesse Watters then claimed that Hamas was using the condoms to make bombs.
“They’re making condom bombs. That’s right. Hamas floats these things up with bomb making materials and then kaboom, booby-trapped condoms. Look it up. It’s a dual use technology,” Watters said during a Fox News panel show.
On January 29, President Trump repeated the claim, including the line about Hamas using the condoms to make bombs.
METHOD
Spotlight verification often requires tools like Google Lens or reverse image searches. However, in this case, as neither Trump nor his administration have provided evidence to support claims that they blocked $50 million set aside for condoms in Gaza—or that Hamas has used condoms to make weapons in the recent war with Israel—we need to track down official figures and verify the facts.
According to the latest available report from the US Agency for International Development in 2023, the agency – which was the principal agency responsible for providing foreign aid – has made only one shipment of contraceptives to the Middle East since 2019.
“In the Middle East, one country, Jordan, received a shipment in FY 2023, the first shipment to the region in several years,” the report states. “A small delivery, valued $45,680, was made to Jordan entirely to government programs,” the statement added.
Furthermore, the USAID report states that the total value of U.S. contraceptive shipments in fiscal year 2023 was $60,787 across 23 countries—far from the $50 million figure claimed for the small territory of Gaza with a population of roughly 2.1 million.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on X that a federal pause on foreign assistance had blocked $102 million in “unjustified spending” to a contractor in Gaza, which included “money for contraception.”
In a follow-up email to the press, Bruce confirmed that the administration had halted $102 million in funding to International Medical Corps (IMC), which operates two field hospitals in central Gaza.
However, IMC released a statement on January 29 clarifying its funding sources and expenditures.
“International Medical Corps has received $68,078,508 from USAID to support our operations in Gaza since October 7, 2023. With the generous support of USAID and the American people, we’ve used these resources to operate two large field hospitals currently located in central Gaza” the statement read.
“No US government funding was used to procure or distribute condoms, nor to provide family-planning services,” the statement added.
The numbers cited by Trump and his administration also came under scrutiny.
A post by Refugees International President Jeremy Konyndyk highlighted the unrealistic figures provided by Trump and his administration.
“So look – on the “Gaza condoms” thing. USAID procures condoms for around $0.05 apiece. $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,” Konyndyk wrote.
RATING
Official records from USAID and IMC contradict claims that the U.S. had allocated $50 million for condoms in Gaza. The only recorded contraceptive shipment to the Middle East in recent years went to Jordan, and IMC explicitly denied using U.S. funding for condoms or family planning. Additionally, the maths behind the claim is implausible, making it unlikely that such a large allocation ever existed.
SOURCES
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at Tip of the Iceberg [Accessed 3 Feb. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at Trump: We identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas.[Accessed 3 Feb. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at Watters: They are making condom bombs. [Accessed 3 Feb. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at American taxpayer dollars spent overseas should be spent wisely, and for the benefit of Americans. [Accessed 3 Feb. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: I was interested in the origin of this “$50M for Gaza condoms” comes from. [Accessed 3 Feb. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: So look – on the “Gaza condoms” thing. [Accessed 3 Feb. 2025].
International Medical Corps Available at: International Medical Corps Operations in Gaza [Accessed 3 Feb. 2025].
USAID Available at: Overview of Contraceptive and Condom Shipments Funded with United States Government Family Planning Funds [Accessed 3 Feb. 2025].