Elon Musk’s DOGE to audit U.S. money sent to Ukraine, “half the money is missing” Trump

Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have agreed to an audit of US funds sent to Ukraine. Musk responded with a simple “OK” on his social media platform X to a Tuesday post by political commentator Charlie Kirk, who requested Musk and DOGE to lead an investigation into how American aid has been spent.

Musk’s response comes on the merit of money laundering claims made over the US government’s financial support of Ukraine in its war against Russia. On February 18, through a Truth Social post, President Donald Trump claimed that the US had spent $350 billion on Ukraine and received “nothing in return.” 

pic.twitter.com/PMcrOwXejI

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2025

Trump also mentioned that Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy admittedly told reporters that “half the money is missing,” and GOP leaders are now questioning where those funds have gone.

Zelenskyy acknowledges missing funds in American aid

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a February 1 interview with the Associated Press, explained how Ukraine’s military had received only a portion of the more than $175 billion in US assistance earmarked for the conflict. 

According to the Ukrainian leader, much of the aid has not been in the form of direct financial transfers but has instead come as weapons, training, and humanitarian support.

“One hundred billion (dollars) of these 177, or 200, some people even say, we have never received,” read a translation of Zelenskyy’s interview. “We are talking about specific things, because we got it not with money but with weapons. We got $70-something billion worth of it. There is training, there is additional transport. There are not only prices for weapons, there were humanitarian programs, social, among others.”

Supporters of the US Republican government have taken parts of his comments to push claims that a significant portion of the aid has been misused. A widely shared Facebook post alleged that Zelenskyy “just threw the whole Ukraine money laundering operation under the bus” by admitting Ukraine had not received the full amount.

In early February, Elon Musk reshared a post from an anonymous journo on X that questioned whether 58% of US taxpayer funds sent to Ukraine had ever reached the country. 

“Did the CIA skim a cut? Did Ukrainian officials and generals pocket their share?” the reporter beckoned.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US Congress has approved five separate aid packages amounting to nearly $175 billion. Additional funding has come from executive actions and supplemental appropriations.

However, according to a report by the Council on Foreign Relations, much of this money has not been directly sent to Ukraine’s government. Out of the $175 billion allocated, approximately $100 billion has gone directly to aid Ukraine, which Zelensky claims only $70 billion catered for their defense programs. 

The rest of the funds reportedly funded US military operations, support for allies in the region, and other related expenses.

Calls for a formal audit grow

In another development, the lack of detailed public accounting has fueled bipartisan calls for increased transparency, led by Republican Missouri Senator Josh Hawley. Hawley has pledged to introduce legislation that would require a full audit of every dollar sent to Ukraine.

“It’s time for a special inspector general dedicated to auditing EVERY PENNY spent on Ukraine,” Hawley wrote on X yesterday. An hour later, he followed up his post by promising to push for the creation of a watchdog tasked solely with tracking US aid spending.

Speaking on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Hawley reiterated that the Biden administration has resisted efforts to track aid spending. 

“Right now, we have zero because Congress never would vote for an audit of the money, and the White House never would do one,” he said. “We need an accounting of every single tax dollar that’s been spent over there.”

Hawley also suggested that an audit could expose widespread misuse of funds. “If you think the US Agency for International Development is corrupt, just wait till we see how our money has been spent.“

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