US aid experts on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s claim that the United States had spent $50 million to fund condoms for the war-battered Gaza Strip, which the president has sought to make a poster child for wasteful spending.”We identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas,” Trump told reporters, referring to the militant group that has ruled the Palestinian territory for nearly two decades.”And do you know what’s happened to them? They’ve used them as a method of making bombs.”Trump offered no evidence to back his claim, which prompted both vehement rejections and ridicule from relief agencies and experts.The United States sent no condoms to any part of the Middle East since 2019, according to a detailed report last year from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).Its only family planning contribution to the region was a small shipment of injectable and oral contraceptives worth $45,680 that was sent to Jordan in 2023, the report said.International Medical Corps, a humanitarian aid organization, said it received about $68 million from USAID for its Gaza operations since October 7, 2023 — the day Hamas launched a major attack on Israel –- which paid for two field hospitals providing lifesaving care.”No US government funding was used to procure or distribute condoms,” the organization said in a statement.- ‘Dangerous’ -On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the $50 million expenditure was discovered in Trump’s first week by the budget office and the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by tech billionaire Elon Musk.She called it a “preposterous waste of taxpayer money.””The White House claim that DOGE uncovered $50 million in funding for condoms in Gaza is quite obviously untrue,” Matthew Kavanagh, director of Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics, told AFP.”It does not even make sense.”A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests $50 million would buy over a billion condoms for Gaza’s adult population.”What’s going is here is NOT a billion condoms for Gaza,” Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, wrote on X, the Musk-owned site formerly called Twitter.”What’s going on is that the bros at DOGE apparently can’t read (government) spreadsheets.”Jesse Watters, host of a conservative-leaning talk show on Fox News, said that Hamas were using the non-existent US shipments to make “condom bombs,” floating explosives-laden balloons into Israel — a claim echoed by Trump.Soon after returning to office for a second term on January 20, Trump ordered a 90-day freeze in foreign assistance.He has vowed a review to ensure that aid conforms with policies of his administration, which opposes abortion, transgender rights and diversity programs.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a memo that the United States was freezing nearly all aid disbursement except for emergency food and military aid to Egypt and Israel. “What seems clear is the administration is taking a large grant to support healthcare infrastructure in Gaza and mischaracterizing it in order to justify the dangerous halt to lifesaving aid programs around the world,” Kavanagh said.

The US Federal Reserve is in no “hurry” to adjust interest rates again, the central bank’s chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday, after policymakers voted to pause rate cuts in the first decision since Donald Trump’s White House return.The Fed’s rate-setting committee voted unanimously to keep the bank’s benchmark lending rate at between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent, the Fed announced in a statement.”With our policy stance significantly less restrictive than it had been, and the economy remaining strong, we do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance,” Powell told reporters after the decision.The Fed’s pause follows three consecutive rate reductions which together lowered its key rate by a full percentage point.In its statement, the Fed said the unemployment rate had stabilized “at a low level,” and the labor market was still solid.Inflation however “remains somewhat elevated,” the Fed said, removing a reference in earlier statements to inflation making progress towards its long-term target of two percent.”By design, Powell provided little in the way of new information at this FOMC meeting,” economists at Citi wrote in a note to clients Wednesday, referring to the Fed’s rate-setting committee. Powell, they added, had “effectively” kept all options for the Fed’s next rate decision in March.- Trump slams Powell, Fed -The US central bank has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to tackle inflation and unemployment.It does so primarily by raising or lowering its key short-term lending rate, which influences borrowing costs for consumers and businesses.Most analysts agree that the US economy is going fairly well, with robust growth, a largely healthy labor market, and relatively low inflation which nevertheless remains stuck above the Fed’s target. But in a post to his Truth Social account, President Trump slammed both Powell and the Fed, accusing them of failing “to stop the problem they created with Inflation.”Futures traders see a probability of more than 80 percent that the Fed will extend its pause to rate cuts at its March meeting, according to data from CME Group.- ‘Wait and see’ -Since returning to office on January 20, Trump has revived his threats to impose sweeping tariffs on US trading partners as soon as this weekend and to deport millions of undocumented workers.He has also said he wants to extend expiring tax cuts and slash red tape on energy production.Most — though not all — economists expect Trump’s tariff and immigration policies to be at least mildly inflationary, raising the cost of goods faced by consumers.”I think those policies are definitively inflationary, it’s just a question of what degree,” Mark Zandi from Moody’s Analytics told AFP ahead of the rate decision.Asked about the likely impact of Trump’s proposals, including tariffs, Powell said the Fed would have to “wait and see” how they affected the economy.At the Fed’s previous meeting, policymakers dialed back the number of rate cuts they expect this year to a median of just two, with some incorporating assumptions about Trump’s likely economic policies into their forecasts, according to minutes of the meeting.Given the uncertainty about the effect of Trump’s policies on the US economy, analysts are now divided over how many rate cuts they expect the Fed to make in 2025.”We retain our baseline that the FOMC will cut rates 25bp (basis points) this year, in June,” economists at Barclays wrote, pointing to the economy’s underlying strength.Zandi from Moody’s Analytics said he also expects two rate cuts later in the year.But, he added, “there are meaningful odds that the next move by the Fed may not be a rate cut, it might be a rate increase.”

President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the US Environmental Protection Agency was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday, drawing cheers from the fossil fuel industry and sparking alarm among green groups.Lee Zeldin, a former US congressman from New York, has committed to Trump’s campaign pledges of boosting US energy dominance and rolling back environmental regulations enacted under former president Joe Biden.The 44-year-old’s nomination was confirmed by a 56-42 vote, with Democrats John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as well as Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona crossing the aisle to vote with their Republican colleagues. Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Jon Ossoff of Georgia did not vote. “Administrator Lee Zeldin has a proven track record of finding solutions to the nation’s most pressing energy challenges,” said American Petroleum Institute president and CEO Mike Sommers.”We look forward to working with him to advance American energy leadership, from developing smart, effective regulations to ensuring consumers — not the government — can choose the vehicles they drive.” Faced with hostile Democratic questioning during his confirmation hearing, Zeldin acknowledged human-caused climate change is real, in contrast with Trump, who has derided it as a hoax. But he repeatedly emphasized his commitment to “clean air” and “clean water,” echoing rhetoric commonly used by conservatives who champion fossil fuels while resisting efforts to combat the worsening climate crisis, which is disrupting ecosystems and intensifying extreme weather events.”With today’s vote, Senate Republicans have installed yet another Trump loyalist to advance his agenda of environmental destruction,” said Evergreen Action’s Executive Director Lena Moffitt.”Despite Lee Zeldin’s repeated assurances to ‘fully’ follow the law, his blind loyalty to President Trump in the face of illegal, destructive executive actions makes it clear that his EPA will put polluters over people.”Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, warned that Zeldin’s leadership should be scrutinized closely.”Let’s be clear-eyed that every other person Trump has already deployed to the EPA’s pesticide, water and air divisions has a long track record of putting industry profits and polluters above our health and the environment,” he said.Zeldin’s confirmation comes amid sweeping moves by Trump to reshape US environmental policy.On his very first day in office, Trump announced he was removing the United States from the Paris climate accord for a second time, declared a “national energy emergency” to expand drilling, and signed executive orders to slow the transition to electric vehicles and halt offshore windshore farms.

Donald Trump’s commerce secretary nominee told his US Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday he favors “across-the-board” tariffs targeting countries rather than products, while signaling a hawkish China stance.”We can use tariffs to create reciprocity, fairness and respect,” said Howard Lutnick, a close Trump ally and billionaire CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald.Lutnick’s appearance comes as Trump threatens sweeping duties on imports from allies and adversaries alike — with levies on major trading partners Canada and Mexico potentially to be unveiled this weekend.On Wednesday, Lutnick said the president’s February 1 deadline for 25 percent tariffs were aimed at getting both neighbors to do more on illegal migration and particularly the flow of deadly fentanyl.”This is a separate tariff to create action from Mexico and action from Canada,” he said, differentiating between uses of duties.”As far as I know they are acting swiftly, and if they execute it, there will be no tariff.”But Lutnick stressed that duties on China — and “adversaries” — should be higher than those on other countries.In announcing his nomination last year, Trump said Lutnick would lead the world’s biggest economy’s tariff and trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the US Trade Representative’s office.Asked about the impact of duties on prices, Lutnick conceded certain products’ costs may rise. He charged that “it is nonsense” however that they would cause widespread inflation.Lutnick vowed to work to understand the impact of retaliatory tariffs on US agriculture and manufacturing.- ‘Strong’ export curbs -Lutnick also signaled he would take a firm stance on export controls involving China, after the recent emergence of the DeepSeek chatbot and its lower cost breakthrough threatened US-based artificial intelligence leaders.”Let them compete, but stop using our tools to compete with us,” he said of rivalry with Beijing. “I’m going to be very strong on that.”If confirmed, Lutnick will helm a department overseeing export controls to competitors, aimed at ensuring the United States’ lead in sensitive technology with military uses.”Our export controls, not backed by tariffs, are like a whack-a-mole model,” he told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.”I do not believe that DeepSeek was done all above board,” he added, pledging rigorous enforcement of restrictions to help the United States stay ahead.On the CHIPS and Science Act, a major law passed during former president Joe Biden’s term aimed at strengthening the US semiconductor industry, Lutnick called investments towards it “an excellent downpayment.”But he added that “we need to review them and get it right.”Vice President JD Vance, in remarks introducing Lutnick to the panel, said the billionaire ally would help convince businesses that America is thriving, bringing US commerce “back on track.”The commerce secretary nominee was co-chair of Trump’s 2024 transition team, identifying new hires for the administration.In the past, he has criticized electric vehicles and blamed China for being the source of fentanyl into the United States.He has also lamented the loss of US manufacturing jobs and off-shoring to China.On Wednesday, he said: “Tariffs will encourage companies to come back and build in America.”The Commerce Department under Biden ramped up export controls on critical technologies like quantum computing and semiconductor manufacturing goods, taking aim at access by countries such as China.Trump’s administration could harden this stance.