Trump Gets Huge Laughs Reading DOGE Waste List to Congress: “$8 Million for Making Mice Transgender”

During his joint address to Congress on March 5, 2025, President Trump turned the DOGE waste list into one of the most memorable moments of the evening by reading specific expenditures aloud to the assembled lawmakers. The chamber erupted in laughter as Trump catalogued items including “$8 million for making mice transgender — this is real,” “$20 million for the Arab Sesame Street in the Middle East,” “$10 million for male circumcision in Mozambique,” and “$22 billion from HHS to provide free housing and cars for illegal aliens.” He revealed that $1.9 billion had been passed to a “decarbonization of homes committee” headed by Stacey Abrams and concluded by saying “we found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud."

"Just Listen to Some of the Appalling Waste”

Trump introduced the DOGE segment of his address with an invitation that set up the audience for what was coming.

“Just listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified,” Trump said.

What followed was a rapid-fire reading of specific line items that transformed abstract waste numbers into concrete absurdities. Each item drew a stronger audience reaction than the last, building momentum through the sheer accumulation of examples that no reasonable person could defend.

The Full List

Trump read the expenditures in sequence, pausing for audience reactions:

“$22 billion from HHS to provide free housing and cars for illegal aliens.” The largest item on the list drew groans and head-shaking from the Republican side.

“$45 million for diversity, equity, and inclusion scholarships in Burma.” The foreign DEI spending continued a theme Trump had been developing for weeks.

“$40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants.” Trump added: “Nobody knows what that is.”

“$8 million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.” The geographic obscurity of the recipient country amplified the absurdity.

“$60 million for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. $60 million.”

Then the item that produced the biggest reaction of the evening: “$8 million for making mice transgender.” Trump paused and added: “This is real.” The chamber erupted.

“$32 million for a left-wing propaganda operation in Moldova.”

“$10 million for male circumcision in Mozambique.”

“$20 million for the Arab Sesame Street in the Middle East. $20 million for a program.” Trump’s delivery conveyed genuine disbelief at the price tag.

“$1.9 billion to a recently created decarbonization of homes committee — headed up, and we know she’s involved, just at the last moment the money was passed over by a woman named Stacey Abrams. Have you ever heard of her?”

“A $3.5 million consulting contract for lavish fish monitoring.”

“$1.5 million for voter confidence in Liberia.”

“$14 million for social cohesion in Mali.”

“$59 million for illegal alien hotel rooms in New York City.” Trump added with characteristic real estate commentary: “He’s a real estate developer. He’s done very well.”

“$250,000 to increase vegan local climate action innovation in Zambia.”

“$42 million for social and behavior change in Uganda.”

“$14 million for improving public procurement in Serbia.”

“$47 million for improving learning outcomes in Asia.” Trump added: “Asia is doing very well with learning. You know what we’re doing — we should use it ourselves.”

“$101 million for DEI contracts at the Department of Education. The most ever paid. Nothing even like it.”

Why the List Worked

The DOGE waste list was the most effective segment of Trump’s joint address for several reasons. First, each item was specific enough to be verified and absurd enough to be indefensible. No Democrat could stand up and argue that $8 million for making mice transgender was a good use of taxpayer money. No one could credibly defend $250,000 for “vegan local climate action innovation in Zambia” while Americans struggled with grocery prices.

Second, the items spanned every category of ideological excess that the administration had targeted: DEI programs, climate spending, foreign aid to obscure countries, LGBTQ promotion overseas, and payments to politically connected figures like Stacey Abrams. The list was not a random collection but a systematic indictment of how the federal government had been redirecting taxpayer money to advance progressive ideological objectives both domestically and internationally.

Third, Trump’s delivery transformed a budget document into entertainment. His pauses, his asides (“nobody knows what that is,” “this is real,” “have you ever heard of her?”), and his genuine expressions of disbelief turned each line item into a punchline. The laughter from the chamber was not scripted; it was the natural response of people hearing absurdities read aloud for the first time.

The $1.9 Billion Stacey Abrams Connection

The Stacey Abrams item drew particular attention because it connected wasteful spending to a prominent Democratic political figure. The $1.9 billion for a “decarbonization of homes committee” that had been “headed up” by Abrams and created “just at the last moment” before the Biden administration ended suggested that the program was designed as much to benefit political allies as to address climate change.

Abrams, who had lost two Georgia gubernatorial races and had become a prominent figure in Democratic voter-mobilization efforts, was being placed at the center of a nearly $2 billion program created in the final days of an administration. The timing and the amount raised obvious questions about whether the program served a legitimate policy purpose or was a mechanism for directing taxpayer funds to political allies.

The Transgender Mice

The “$8 million for making mice transgender” item became the most widely shared moment from the entire joint address. The line combined several elements that made it an instant social media phenomenon: a specific dollar amount, a scientific absurdity, and Trump’s deadpan delivery followed by “this is real.”

The expenditure referenced NIH-funded research that involved administering hormones to laboratory mice to study the effects of cross-sex hormone treatment. While the research may have had legitimate scientific objectives within the context of studying transgender medicine, the framing — “making mice transgender” at taxpayer expense — captured the public imagination in a way that no scientific justification could overcome.

For the broader DOGE narrative, the transgender mice became a symbol. If the federal government was spending $8 million on this, what else was it spending money on that the public didn’t know about? The item’s virality ensured that millions of Americans who had not watched the full address would encounter at least one example of the waste DOGE was cutting.

”Far Worse Things I Didn’t Think It Was Appropriate to Talk About”

Trump closed the DOGE segment with a tantalizing tease that suggested the list he had read was the mild version.

“Under the Trump administration, all of these scams — and they’re far worse, but I didn’t think it was appropriate to talk about them. They’re so bad,” Trump said. “Many more have been found out and exposed and swiftly terminated by a group of very intelligent, mostly young people.”

He acknowledged the DOGE team: “Headed up by Elon. We appreciate it.”

Then the bottom line: “We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud.”

The suggestion that even worse examples existed — “so bad” that they were inappropriate for a congressional address — served the same purpose it had at previous events: it kept the public’s attention on what was coming next while ensuring that the examples already revealed were understood as the tip of the iceberg.

Key Takeaways

• Trump read a DOGE waste list to Congress that included “$8 million for making mice transgender — this is real,” drawing the evening’s biggest laughs.
• The list spanned $22 billion for illegal alien housing, $45M for DEI scholarships in Burma, $20M for Arab Sesame Street, $10M for circumcision in Mozambique, and dozens of other items.
• He revealed $1.9 billion had gone to a “decarbonization of homes committee” created at the last minute and “headed up by Stacey Abrams.”
• Trump said $101 million in DEI contracts at the Department of Education was “the most ever paid — nothing even like it.”
• He said the items he read were “far worse” than he could discuss publicly and that DOGE had “found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud.”