Claims about big USAID payouts followed President Donald Trump's attacks against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Tom Norton is Newsweek's Fact Check reporter, based in London. His focus is reporting on misinformation and misleading information in U.S. public life. He has in-depth knowledge of open source-intelligence research and the global disinformation industry. Tom joined Newsweek in 2022 from Full Fact and had previously worked at the Health Service Journal, the Nottingham Post, and the Advertising Standards Authority. He is a graduate of Liverpool and Nottingham Trent University.
A banner lists the countries funding the World Food Programme at a food distribution point run by the Ukrainian charity Angels of Salvation on February 7, 2025, in Druzhkivka, Ukraine., by user @amuse, posted on February 20, 2021, said:"UKRAINE: Until Trump was elected, US taxpayers were spending $140M a year to have NAFO influencers and chatbots convince them to keep sending Ukraine billions to fund the war. USAID funds were used to manipulate US voters and leaders.
Of this, $39.9 billion was appropriated for USAID, of which $37.9 has been committed, and $34.2 billion paid. Most of this has gone to the operational budget of the Ukrainian government funding Even if $140 million had been spent every year since the war started on a"Psychological Warfare and Information Center," that amount would surpass what USAID disbursed to its operating expenses, audits and health programs combined during that same period.
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