HAS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SENT $25 MILLION TO TALIBAN IN LATE 2025
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Executive summary
Claims that the Trump administration sent $25 million to the Taliban in late 2025 are unsupported by the available reporting; multiple outlets and fact-checks trace viral posts claiming $45 million in cash to earlier UN cash shipments and label the December 8, 2025 image as reused/misattributed (see fact-check and Newsweek coverage) [1] [2]. Longstanding reporting shows humanitarian cash deliveries to Afghanistan have occurred and that some donor funds have reached Afghanistan’s central bank under Taliban control — but those are primarily UN-mediated flows, not a U.S. government handover of freshly printed cash on an agreed-upon date [3] [4].
1. Viral social posts, not an official State release
The immediate source of the story circulated on X and conservative channels claiming tens of millions in "freshly printed" cash flown to Kabul; Newsweek and other outlets reported the political backlash, but the posts used an image that fact-checkers traced to a 2023 UN humanitarian cash shipment, not an on-the-record U.S. cash handover in December 2025 [2] [1].
2. Fact-checks identify an old photo and incorrect specifics
A fact-check compiled by Yahoo (summarizing the debunking) states the December 8, 2025 claim is false and that the photograph used to illustrate the claim was published in 2023 in connection with United Nations deliveries — the fact-check also notes prior SIGAR/ProPublica reporting that some U.S.-funded humanitarian cash has moved through UN mechanisms and into Afghan banking structures after 2021, but it does not validate a U.S.-chartered flight delivering $45M in freshly printed bills on that date [1] [3].
3. The broader, documented cash flows are UN-driven and messy
Investigations have documented that the U.N. and other international actors have flown large amounts of cash into Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover — ProPublica and the SIGAR report referenced more than $2.9 billion in U.N. cash deliveries overall, with some of that money ending up at the Afghan central bank under Taliban control. Those findings explain why accusations of U.S. funding reaching the Taliban surface, but they describe multilateral humanitarian logistics, not discrete U.S. cash flights to the Taliban leadership [3].
4. Congressional and watchdog scrutiny predates 2025
Congressional reports and SIGAR findings earlier in the decade flagged that U.S. implementing partners had paid taxes and fees to local power holders, and lawmakers pressed administrations to prevent any diversion of U.S. assistance to Taliban authorities. CRS and Congress sources say the U.S. set up an Afghan fund and that donors have struggled to prevent some leakage — but CRS reporting also notes the Afghan Fund had not made disbursements as of January 2025, contradicting narratives of straightforward U.S. cash handovers in late 2025 [5] [4].
5. Political reactions amplified unverified specifics
Republican politicians and right-leaning commentators amplified claims that “the Trump admin just flew $45M in cash to the Taliban,” prompting outrage and calls for policy change [2] [6]. That political amplification relied on social posts and press releases rather than on an independent documentary record in the public domain; Newsweek and Alternet captured the political response but did not produce primary evidence of the alleged cash transfer itself [2] [6].
6. What the sources do and do not say — limits of current reporting
Available sources document (A) longstanding UN cash deliveries that have involved U.S.-funded programs and (B) congressional worry that some U.S. aid indirectly reached Taliban-controlled institutions, but they do not document a U.S. government operation in December 2025 delivering $25M (or $45M) in freshly printed cash directly to the Taliban on a chartered flight. Fact-checking reporting explicitly disputes the December 8, 2025 image and headline used in viral posts [3] [1] [2]. Sources do not mention an independently verified U.S. cash handover matching the viral claim: not found in current reporting [1] [2].
7. Competing perspectives and implicit agendas
Two competing threads run through the coverage: one emphasizes real humanitarian need and the operational difficulty of getting cash into Afghanistan safely (UN and aid groups), the other emphasizes political accountability and threats of taxpayer dollars indirectly funding the Taliban (Congressional critics and some GOP politicians). Political actors who amplify dramatic dollar-figure claims benefit from concise, alarming narratives; fact-checkers and investigative reporters emphasize logistical nuance and the multilateral nature of past cash shipments [3] [2].
8. Bottom line for readers
Do not treat social posts or single-image claims as proof that the Trump administration sent $25M (or $45M) directly to the Taliban in late 2025: fact-checkers and reporting tie the viral image to earlier UN cash deliveries and note no verified U.S. cash-flight handover on the alleged date [1] [3]. For policymakers and the public, the underlying issue remains real — aid to Afghanistan has been hard to route without some funds touching Taliban-controlled institutions — but the sensational, dated-photo claim about a specific late‑2025 U.S. cash transfer is not supported by the sources at hand [3] [1].