Trillions, Dr Benjamin? Really?

THE EDITOR: Dr Errol N Benjamin is prominent among the local admirers of Donald Trump. He wrote a letter in Newsday (February 11) headlined “A look at anti-Trump picture,” responding to local columnists condemning Elon Musk.

Benjamin says, “Musk in his audit of USAID has uncovered trillions of dollars of taxpayers’ money being spent on aid programmes hardly deserving, for which the officials responsible will be held accountable.”

Screeech! Stop! Stop! What?

“Trillions of dollars,” Benjamin? What currency are you talking about? US dollars? TT dollars? Jamaican dollars?

I thought the annual USAID budget was about US$40 billion. Where did you get “trillions” from? Was this a mistake? A misprint? Or are you taking a page from your hero’s playbook and lying straight to our faces?

ERROL ANTHONY

Belmont