The United States has directed the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) to halt work on dozens of US-funded grants, despite an earlier exemption for emergency food assistance.
According to an internal email reviewed by Reuters, the directive came just five days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved an exemption for life-saving food aid.
The suspended grants, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), are worth tens of millions of dollars and provide critical food assistance to some of the world's most vulnerable populations.
Countries impacted by the suspension include Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Haiti, and Mali.
Many of the affected grants fall under the Food for Peace program, which spends approximately $2 billion annually on US food donations.
Jointly managed by the US Department of Agriculture and USAID, the program represents a significant portion of America's global food assistance efforts.
The directive follows an executive order issued on January 20, the day former President Donald Trump took office.
The order paused all foreign aid spending for 90 days to allow for a review ensuring alignment with his administration’s "America First" foreign policy agenda.
The US remains the world’s largest aid donor, making this suspension a significant shift in global humanitarian efforts.
Despite the freeze, the State Department later confirmed that Rubio had approved exemptions for emergency food assistance.
Additional exemptions were also granted for life-saving humanitarian aid, covering essential medical services, food, and shelter.
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