US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his outrage over USAID's spending, accusing the agency of funnelling $29 million to prop up a "radical left communist" in Bangladesh.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington on Saturday, Trump fumed, "$29 million goes to strengthen the political landscape and help them out so that they can vote for a radical left communist in Bangladesh. You've got to see who they supported!"

It was the second straight day of blistering attacks on the USAID grant, after his fiery remarks at the White House Governors Working Session on Friday.

Trump claimed the $29 million fund landed with an obscure firm that he said was "a little outfit" with just two employees.

"They got $29 million. A cheque! Imagine scraping by with $10,000 here, $10,000 there -- and bam, $29 million from the US government," he said.

"Two people! They're very happy. Very rich. They'll be on the cover of a top business magazine -- for being great scammers," quipped the US president.

Trump's ire extended to India, too. At CPAC, he questioned an $18 million USAID grant for elections there, asking, "Why the hell? Why don't we use paper ballots and let them help us with our elections? Voter ID—that'd be nice. We're giving money to India for elections. They don't need it. They slap 200% tariffs on us, and we're handing them cash!" 

On February 16, Elon Musk-led US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced that it has taken new measures to save US taxpayers money by cutting funding to 17 projects across the globe, including one in Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh, the Strengthening Political Landscape (SPL) programme -- backed by USAID and UK's DFID, and run by Democracy International from 2017 to 2024 -- aimed to boost political party capacity, strengthen party-constituent ties, and reduce violence.