Bangladesh government should come up with a clarification as confusion emerged following the remarks made by President Donald Trump on USAID funding in Bangladesh, said development and governance experts.

They said such remarks might be politically motivated and meant for the American people, but it can affect Bangladesh's development sector that plays crucial role in the country's socio-economic and democratic development.

Addressing the White House Governors Working Session on Friday, Trump claimed that the $29 million USAID 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.

Addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland on Saturday, Trump again accused the agency of funnelling $29 million to prop up a "radical left communist" in Bangladesh.

"$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!"

This has confused Bangladeshis and NGO professionals, who have been worried since Trump's announcement of terminating US funding for the projects that don't align with his policy.

One American NGO whose name surfaced in relation to the $29 million funding is Democracy International (DI), which got the fund from the USAID and UK's DFID for the Strengthening Political Landscape (SPL) in Bangladesh from 2017 to 2024.

The Daily Star emailed the DI for comments, but its Chief of Party Catherine Cecil said she has no comments on the matter.

An official who earlier worked for a project with DI said the US NGO has more than 40 employees and how the $29 million fund can go to two people is not understandable.

"US President Donald Trump's remarks might be meant for the audience in America. It has no link with that of Bangladesh," the official told this correspondent.

According to NGO professionals, any NGO working in Bangladesh with foreign funding must secure approval from the NGO Affairs Bureau.

However, NGO Affairs Bureau Director General (acting) Md Anwar Hossain said they looked into their records and did not find any approval in favour of Democracy International.

"We have to check how Democracy International received the USAID funding and used it," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

Abu Sayed, additional secretary and wing chief for America and Japan at the Economic Relations Division (ERD), said USAID sends quarterly reports to the ERD on the amount of money disbursed for projects.

He, however, could not immediately provide details of the projects and funds coming from USAID.

Asked about the matter, Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said it might be possible that USAID has directly funded the US NGO in its own applicable process as part of a bilateral agreement between the US and Bangladesh.

In September last year, the USAID signed an agreement with the ERD for giving $202 million in aid to Bangladesh, which is a part of USAID's total commitment of $954 million to Bangladesh for the period of 2021-2026.

According to the ERD, through the 1974 Economic, Technical and Related Assistance Agreement, the US has contributed over $8 billion across various sectors, including democracy and governance, food security, health, education, and climate change, primarily through USAID and other US agencies.

Iftekharuzzaman said the US NGO, as the principal awardee for the SPL project, appears to have funded some sub-grantees as implementing partners.

In such cases, non-US sub-awardee NGOs, local or international, must have had approvals from the NGO Affairs Bureau, he said.

"Interestingly, the USAID funding in Bangladesh is much more than what has been mentioned by the US President. I am not sure if the position he has taken is politically motivated," Iftekharuzzaman said, because the principal grantee US NGO may be linked with his arch political rival Democratic Party.

Hence, it is likely that Bangladesh is being dragged into US domestic politics, which on the other hand is facilitating smear campaign against a section of NGOs of Bangladesh by the ousted regime.

In addition to development support, the US has a multifaceted relationship with Bangladesh including trade, investment, education and not least diplomatic and strategic.

"Trump's parroted political rhetoric can therefore have implications on the bilateral relationship, which Bangladesh can neither ignore nor can any sensible US government wish away. Therefore, it is important that both sides work together sooner than later to clear the confusion," he added.

Former ambassador to the US, M Humayun Kabir, said each and every penny of the USAID fund is calculated and the NGOs using the fund has to ensure transparency and accountability. There is no scope for the USAID to fund "two persons" as claimed by Trump.

"The USAID fund is not political party-blind. It works with all the political parties. So, you cannot say that the US NGOs work for this party or that party," he said, referring to Democracy International's collaboration with Awami League.

According to a statement of the Centre for Research and Information, a think tank of the AL, published in its website on June 11, 2016, DI has provided training and enhanced skills of thousands of political workers from all major political parties, including the AL.

The DI has also been working with CRI closely on research issues, it said.

AKM Jashim Uddin, director at the Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh, the apex body of NGOs, said the remarks by Trump are akin to blaming the NGO sector in Bangladesh.

"People will question us. This is not fair, especially when the sector makes huge contribution to the country's development," he said.

It would not be wise for Bangladesh to accept what Trump said, he said, adding, "Bangladesh must come up with the right response. Otherwise, it will be an issue of dignity for us."