United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he “guessed” that the previous administration was “trying to get somebody else elected” in India by having allegedly provided $21 million “for voter turnout”.

“What do we need to spend $21 million on voter turnout in India?” Trump asked at an event in Miami. “I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected.”

He added: “We need to tell the Indian government because when we hear that Russia was trying to spend two dollars in our country, it was a big deal, right? They [Russia] took some internet ads for 2,000 dollars. This is a total breakthrough.”

Trump did not mention when the alleged disbursement of funds took place and did not provide evidence to back his claims.

On Sunday, the US Department of Government Efficiency announced that it had cancelled several international aid initiatives through the United States Agency for International Development “costing taxpayers’ dollars”. The Department of Government Efficiency is led by billionaire Elon Musk.

USAID is an independent agency that is mainly responsible for administering foreign aid and development assistance on behalf of the US government. Trump had on January 24 imposed a 90-day freeze on money distributed by the organisation pending a review by the US State Department.

The list of initiatives for which funding was revoked on Sunday included $486 million in grants to the nonprofit organisation Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening, including $21 million “for voter turnout” in India.

The consortium comprises three organisations – the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and The International Foundation for Electoral Systems – that support elections and political transitions globally.

It is funded by the USAID Global Elections and Political Transitions Program.

The Department of Government Efficiency has not provided further details, including the Indian entity or organisation that was allegedly meant to receive the grants.

Trump’s comment on Wednesday came a day after he defended his administration’s decision to cancel the funds allegedly being provided by USAID for “voter turnout” in India.

“Why are we giving $21 million dollars to India?” Trump had asked on Tuesday. “India has a lot of money. They’re one of the highest-taxing countries in the world. It’s hard for us to get in there because their tariffs are so high.”

Following its cancellation, Bharatiya Janata Party publicity chief Amit Malviya on Sunday called the funding an “external interference” in the election process in India and asked who was its beneficiary. “Not the ruling party for sure,” he claimed in a social media post.

“Once again, it is George Soros, a known associate of the Congress party and the Gandhis, whose shadow looms over our electoral process,” Malviya said in another post.

The ruling BJP has repeatedly claimed that the Opposition Congress was conspiring with Soros, a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist, to destabilise the Narendra Modi government.

Also read: Former poll commissioner rejects claims that US agency funded ‘voter turnout’ in India