India, Feb. 19 -- US President Donald Trump on Wednesday explained why his administration decided to cut the $21 million funding to India for 'voter turnout'. Calling India "one of the highest taxing countries in the world, Trump said the country already has a lot of money.

"Why are we giving $21 million to India? They have a lot more money. They are one of the highest taxing countries in the world in terms of us; we can hardly get in there because their tariffs are so high," Trump told reporters while signing executive orders at his residence in Mar-a-Lago.

Trump praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi while making the remarks, saying that while he has a lot of respect for India, giving them this amount was unacceptable.

"I have a lot of...