USAID (an agency of the U.S. government) funded the Taliban $40 million per week. This enabled the Taliban to buy weapons among other things and survive.

Democrats didn’t want that to end. Democrats used American taxpayer money to enable a war against the U.S. and the world.

That’s only one example. There are at many more.

Listen to this testimony in the U.S. Congress. 5 minutes.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was established in 1961 to advance U.S. foreign policy through socioeconomic development and humanitarian aid, countering Soviet influence during the Cold War.  It operated as a functionally independent agency under the State Department’s policy guidance after being reorganized by Congress in 1998. 

USAID is currently defunct in practice but still legally exists.  In January 2025, the second Trump administration ordered a near-total freeze on foreign aid, and by July 1, 2025, USAID ceased operations, with its remaining functions absorbed into the U.S. Department of State. Although Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the closure and cancellation of 83% of USAID’s programs, the agency cannot be formally abolished without an act of Congress. A skeleton crew remains to close out contracts, and the agency is expected to fully shut down by September 2026. 

USAID did not distribute any new aid in 2026, as its operations have been suspended since mid-2025.  The last full year of active disbursement was 2023, when USAID distributed nearly $43.8 billion, accounting for about 61% of total U.S. foreign assistance.  In FY 2024, it spent $21.7 billion before the freeze.  The remaining funds in 2025–2026 have been used to wind down operations, including $15 million allocated to cover security costs for former Acting Administrator Russell Vought through 2026.

The claim that USAID funded the Taliban $40 million per week stems from testimony and statements made during a February 2025 congressional hearing, an 5 minute excerpt shown, primarily by Rep. Tim Burchett and echoed by other lawmakers.   Rep. Burchett alleged that U.S. taxpayer money was being flown into Afghanistan via charter jets, auctioned off to the Taliban for Afghan currency, and then taxed by the Taliban before being passed to NGOs. A witness, Mr. Roman, shown here in the video, confirmed awareness of the $40 million per week flow during the hearing. 

However, this $40 million per week was not direct funding to the Taliban by USAID.  Instead, experts and sources like The Conversation clarify that this figure represents “indirect financial benefit” the Taliban received from the broader international aid ecosystem.  Due to the Taliban’s control over Afghanistan’s central bank and taxation of aid transactions, a portion of humanitarian funds—estimated at around $40 million weekly—effectively circulated through or enriched the Taliban, despite being intended for humanitarian purposes. 

There is no official confirmation of a specific start or end date for this $40 million per week benefit, but the context suggests it has occurred since the Taliban regained control in 2021, when international aid continued to flow through UN agencies and NGOs operating in the country.  The total indirect funding over this period could amount to over $8 billion, assuming the $40 million weekly estimate holds since mid-2021.  This does not include along untold billions of dollars of military equipment and bases that were given to the Taliban by the Biden Administration.

As of 2025–2026, USAID operations have been suspended under the Trump administration, halting most foreign aid, including flows to Afghanistan.

The “indirect financial benefit” to the Taliban from U.S. and international aid flows through a multi-step process, primarily since their return to power in August 2021:

1. U.S. Funding to International Organizations: USAID and the State Department provided over $2.8 billion in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan from 2021 to early 2024, primarily channeled through the United Nations (UN) and NGOs. 
2. Cash Shipments to Afghanistan: The UN and other agencies physically flew in over $2.9 billion in U.S. cash because electronic transfers were blocked by sanctions.  This cash was deposited into private Afghan banks linked to the UN system. 
3. Conversion via Taliban-Controlled Central Bank: Aid organizations converted U.S. dollars into Afghan afghanis through private money exchangers, which sourced the local currency from the Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the Taliban-controlled central bank.  This process allowed the DAB to profit from exchange rate manipulation and auctions. 
4. Taxes, Fees, and Utilities: Implementing partners (NGOs and UN subawardees) paid at least $10.9 million in U.S. taxpayer funds directly to the Taliban in the form of:
   • $10.4 million in taxes
   • $346,839 for utilities
   • $176,596 in fees
   • $9,215 in customs duties
     (Source: SIGAR audit, May 2024) 
   • Additionally, $57.6 million in U.S. funds previously transferred to the Afghan government before August 2021—$10 million from USAID, $2 million from State, and $45.6 million from Defense—may have been accessed by the Taliban after they seized control of government accounts. 
5. Coercion and Infiltration: The Taliban pressured NGOs to:
   • Hire Taliban-approved personnel
   • Divert aid to Taliban-linked beneficiaries
   • Pay informal levies under threat of office closures or deregistration 
6. $40 Million Per Week Estimate: This figure, cited in 2025 congressional testimony, refers to weekly economic inflows—not direct aid—that the Taliban indirectly benefit from, including:
   • Currency exchange profits
   • Taxation of aid operations
   • Auctioning of U.S. dollars
   • Infiltration of aid programs via fake or coerced NGOs 

This system allowed the Taliban to stabilize the afghani currency, generate revenue, and maintain control, despite U.S. claims that no aid is directly provided to them.  The flow has significantly slowed after the USAID shutdown in mid-2025, halting most new funding.

The estimated value of U.S. and allied military equipment left in Afghanistan and subsequently acquired by the Taliban is $7.12 billion. 

This figure, from a congressionally mandated Department of Defense report, represents the value of equipment provided to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) that remained in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal concluded on August 30, 2021.  It is a subset of the $18.6 billion in total equipment and transportation provided to Afghan forces between 2005 and 2021. 

Breakdown of Equipment:

• Aircraft: At least 78 aircraft, valued at $923.3 million, including Black Hawks and A-29 Super Tucanos. 
• Weapons: Over 316,000 weapons, worth nearly $512 million, including M4 and M16 rifles. 
• Vehicles: More than 40,000 military vehicles, including Humvees and MRAPs. 
• Ammunition: Roughly 9,500 air-to-ground munitions. 
• Dual-use equipment: “Nearly all” of the night vision, surveillance, communications, biometric, and encryption systems provided to Afghan forces. 
• Military bases: Key installations like Bagram Airfield were abandoned and taken over by the Taliban.

While the Pentagon emphasized that most U.S.-operated equipment was retrograded or destroyed, the ANDSF equipment—funded, purchased, and issued by the U.S.—was left behind as it was technically owned by the Afghan government. The Taliban now possess this arsenal, though the operational status of advanced systems like aircraft remains limited due to lack of maintenance and trained personnel.

The Afghan government came to own the U.S.-provided military equipment through a deliberate title transfer process managed by the U.S. Department of Defense and approved by Congress. 

From 2005 to 2021, the U.S. appropriated $18.6 billion to equip the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).  This equipment—including aircraft, vehicles, weapons, and communications systems—was purchased, funded, and transferred directly to the Afghan government under U.S. security assistance programs. The transfers were formalized as Excess Defense Articles or through foreign military financing, with legal title passing to the Afghan government upon delivery. 

For example, in February 2015, the U.S. completed a historic title transfer of 155 MRAPs and 15 recovery vehicles directly to the Afghan National Army, following congressional approval.  This process was repeated for most major equipment over the years.

By design, once transferred, the equipment belonged to the Afghan government, not the U.S. military. When the Afghan government collapsed in August 2021, the $7.12 billion worth of equipment remaining in the country—though U.S.-funded—was legally Afghan state property, which the Taliban then seized.

U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan did not use equipment legally owned by Afghanistan.  The U.S. military operated with its own U.S.-owned equipment, while Afghan forces used U.S.-funded but Afghan-owned gear. 

• U.S. military equipment: Nearly all U.S. forces used U.S.-owned systems, which were either retrograded (shipped out) or destroyed before withdrawal.  Only about $150 million worth of U.S.-operated equipment was left behind and rendered inoperable. 
• Afghan-owned equipment: The $7.12 billion in equipment that fell to the Taliban was legally owned by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), having been transferred by the U.S. over time.  This included weapons, vehicles, and aircraft issued to Afghan troops, not U.S. personnel. 

Thus, U.S. soldiers used U.S.-owned gear, while Afghan forces used U.S.-funded, Afghan-owned equipment.

AI assisted discussion after the video above.