No, the U.S. did not spend $50 million to fund condoms in Gaza

There is no evidence that President Donald Trump’s foreign aid freeze stopped $50 million worth of condoms from going to Gaza, despite White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s statement during her first press briefing. 

The Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory board, 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," Leavitt said Jan. 28, while discussing the need for a pause on most federal aid. 

A day later, Trump repeated the claim. 

"We identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas. $50 million," Trump told reporters Jan. 29. "You know what has happened to them? They've used them as a method of making bombs."

Trump was likely referring to a February 2020 Jerusalem Post article that said Hamas had been launching improvised explosive devices in condoms. 

But there’s no evidence that the U.S. had earmarked or spent $50 million for condoms for Gaza. A State Department spokesperson said on X that the freeze stopped $100 million in funding to Gaza which included funding for contraception. But the emergency relief group that, according to news outlets, would have received that aid, told PolitiFact it did not use U.S. funding for condoms.

There is a U.S. program that provides contraceptives internationally — and it spent $60 million worldwide in one year — but Gaza was not among the recipients, a 2024 U.S. Agency for International Development report said.

Here’s what we know about the funding the White House froze to Gaza, and the funding the U.S. gives other countries for contraceptives.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in an X post that the department "prevented $102 million in unjustified funding to a contractor in Gaza, including money for contraception."

The state Department declined to say on the record what the full scope of those grants was, and it did not provide documentation PolitiFact requested before deadline. 

Multiple news outlets reported that state department officials said the administration stopped two $50 million tranches of funding for the International Medical Corps’ work in Gaza. The funding "included" family planning programming, which can include contraception, sexual health care and sexually transmitted disease prevention.

The International Medical Corps operates a range of emergency health services in Gaza, but spokesperson Todd Bernhardt told PolitiFact it has not used U.S. funding to buy or distribute condoms in Gaza. The organization is not focused on contraception, and there’s no evidence that $50 million of the funding was intended to pay for condoms. 

The International Medical Corps operates two field hospitals in Gaza, Bernhardt said, which serve around 33,000 civilians per month. It performs emergency maternal and newborn care and has helped deliver about 5,000 babies since the war in Gaza began, Bernhardt said. It operates a neonatal intensive care unit and a stabilization center for severely malnourished children. 

The group also provides care in pediatrics, orthopedics, pulmonology and cardiology, Bernhardt said.

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From the U.S. Agency for International Development funding, “10 to 30 cents on the dollar is what actually goes to aid.”

"If the stop-work order remains in place, we will be unable to sustain these activities beyond the next week or so," Bernhardt said.

Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, the International Medical Corps has received $68 million to support its operations, Bernhardt said. We weren’t able to review the details of the grant Leavitt referred to, but it is unlikely the group would receive close to three-fourths of all the funding it’s received so far for condoms alone. And the State Department did not respond to our request for more details on the grant. 

The Trump administration on Jan. 29 withdrew its memo that directed a freeze on most federal aid a day after a judge blocked the effort, but Leavitt said on X the funding freeze was still in place. The State Department did not say whether the planned Gaza aid would resume. 

For decades, the U.S. has invested in reproductive health and family planning programs worldwide. Public health groups distribute condoms in low-income countries primarily to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. 

The U.S. "is the largest donor to (family planning/reproductive health) in the world. It is also one of the largest purchasers and distributors of contraceptives internationally," according to a 2024 KFF report. 

The U.S. spends about $600 million annually on international family planning and reproductive health programs globally, the KFF report said. That includes things like birth spaces, STD testing, prenatal and postnatal care, and other interventions beyond contraception. 

According to USAID, it partners with 41 countries for its family planning and reproductive health program. Neither Israel nor Gaza and the West Bank are on the list. 

In fiscal year 2023, which ended in September 2023, the U.S. government spent $60 million on contraceptive care which includes condoms, a 2024 USAID report said. A small portion of that — $8.2 million — was spent on male and female condoms, with the rest going to other contraception methods. 

The majority of the funding, $54.3 million went to countries in Africa. The Middle East, where Gaza is, got the smallest funding share — about $45,000. All the funding to the Middle East went to Jordan; the report didn’t mention any funding to Israel or Gaza.

Most of USAID’s Family Planning Program funding is used on contraceptives other than condoms such as oral contraceptives, injectable contraceptives and contraceptive implants. Around $7 million went to condoms for men.

Gaza has around 2.14 million people, according to the CIA. If the U.S. spent $50 million on condoms it would have spent around $23 on condoms per person in Gaza or about $46 per male in Gaza. On average, condoms cost about $1 each, according to Planned Parenthood. That does not include a likely lower price for bulk purchases. 

Leavitt said officials found "there was about to be $50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza." 

The White House and State Department didn’t provide evidence the funding it blocked was intended solely for condoms. A State Department spokesperson said that the freeze stopped $100 million in funding to Gaza that included funding for contraception. But there’s no evidence  the emergency relief group that would have received that aid would have used it for condoms; a spokesperson for the group said it has not used any U.S. aid so far to procure or distribute condoms.

A separate U.S. program that provides contraceptives internationally spent $60 million worldwide in one year, but Gaza was not among the recipients.

We rate Leavitt’s statement False.