The State Department announced on Wednesday that it has paused all U.S. assistance to the Somali government, citing an alleged incident where officials in the country destroyed a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and seized 76 metric tons of food aid meant for vulnerable Somalis.
“The Trump Administration has a zero-tolerance policy for waste, theft, and diversion of life-saving assistance,” the department said in a post on the social platform X.
The U.S. contributed more than $2 billion last year to the WFP, the world’s leading humanitarian organization, providing emergency food aid to millions of people affected by various crises, such as hunger, conflict or natural disasters.
The WFP warned last October of a worsening hunger crisis fueled, in part, by funding cuts that have led to fewer Somalis receiving aid and higher levels of malnutrition.
It was not immediately clear how much additional aid could be impacted by the suspension or how long it would last. The Hill has reached out to the State Department for more information.
“Any resumption of assistance will be dependent upon the Somali Federal Government taking accountability for its unacceptable actions and taking appropriate remedial steps,” the department added in its statement.
The administration’s decision comes amid a ratcheting up of attacks against Somali immigrants, including President Trump’s remark in December that they were “completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota” following a massive fraud scandal involving social services.
Trump ended temporary legal protections for Somali residents in Minnesota in late November, claiming the state had become a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”