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WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES: The UN World Food Programme (WFP) was ordered by Washington to stop work on dozens of US-funded grants, according to an email seen by Reuters, that was sent five days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a waiver for emergency food assistance.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) grants, at various stages of progression, are worth tens of millions of dollars and provide food assistance in impoverished countries including Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Haiti and Mali.
The US State Department and the World Food Programme did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Several of the suspended grants are under the Food for Peace Title II program, which spends about $2 billion annually on the donation of US commodities. The program, which makes up the bulk of US international food assistance, is co-administered by the US Department of Agriculture and USAID.
Just hours after taking office on January 20, Trump ordered a 90-day foreign aid pause so contributions could be reviewed to see if they align with his “America First” foreign policy. The US is the world’s largest aid donor.
The State Department then wrote a January 24 “stop work” cable — seen by Reuters — for all existing foreign assistance and paused new aid, but said Rubio had given an exemption for emergency food assistance. He also approved a waiver on January 28 for life-saving humanitarian help, defined as core life-saving medicine, medical services, food and shelter.

’FAR REACHING CONSEQUENCES’
But on January 29, WFP — whose executive director is American Cindy McCain — received an email, seen by Reuters, from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance listing dozens of project numbers subjected to a stop work order.
A senior WFP official in Washington responded with a list of clarifying questions, according to the email. In another note, seen by Reuters, the same official raised concerns about the pause in Title II and Commodity Credit Corporation awards.
“The pause in Title II and CCC awards has disrupted WFP’s massive food supply chain, affecting over 507,000 metric tons (MT) of food valued at more than $340 million,” the WFP official wrote.
The official noted that some of that food was currently en route by sea, more was stored in 23 countries and some was in overland transport. They added that “a substantial quantity of food is currently being loaded at ports like Houston and other locations across the US domestic supply chain.”
“The scale of this disruption underscores the far-reaching consequences of the funding pause on global food assistance efforts. WFP is in the process of analyzing the impact this has on the extremely vulnerable beneficiaries in severe humanitarian contexts that receive this lifesaving assistance,” the WFP official wrote.
The Trump administration’s effort to slash and reshape American foreign aid is crippling the intricate global system that aims to prevent and respond to famine, according to humanitarian organizations.
USAID has been a target of a government reorganization program spearheaded by businessman Elon Musk, a close Trump ally. The Trump administration plans to keep fewer than 300 USAID staff out of the agency’s thousands of staff.
Trump’s incoming UN Ambassador Elize Stefanik praised WFP as “a very successful program” when she appeared before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month. She noted that WFP has “significant bipartisan support” in Congress.

LONDON: London’s Grenfell Tower — where 72 people died in 2017 in Britain’s worst residential fire since World War II — is to be demolished, the UK government confirmed on Friday.
The move, which is expected to take two years, has angered some survivors and families of those killed in the massive inferno, which destroyed the 24-story block in the west of Britain’s capital.
“Grenfell Tower will be carefully taken down to the ground,” the government said in a statement, confirming what victims’ groups said Thursday they had been told.
The work will start after the eighth anniversary of the blaze on June 14 and will be done carefully to ensure that materials can be included in any future memorial, the statement said.
The government said safety was the primary reason for the demolition.
“It remains stable because of the measures put in place to protect it, but even with installation of additional props, the condition of the building will continue to worsen over time,” the statement said.
“Engineers also advise it is not practicable to retain many of the floors of the building in place as part of a memorial that must last in perpetuity.”
The fire started in a faulty freezer, spreading rapidly due to highly combustible cladding fixed to the building’s exterior.
An public inquiry last year found the 72 deaths were “all avoidable” and blamed the “systematic dishonesty” of building firms.
It also revealed decades-long government and regulatory failures.
Since the inquiry and report, victims’ groups have criticized the government for failing to implement fire safety recommendations swiftly enough, including removing similar cladding from other buildings.
Families have also condemned the delay in bringing criminal charges against those blamed for the disaster in the inquiry.
The decision to demolish the building divided victim groups.
Grenfell United, which represents some of the survivors and families, said on Thursday the decision as “disgraceful” and that victims were ignored by a short consultation.
However, Grenfell Next of Kin said it was a “sensitive decision” which “came after a thorough engagement process” and was informed by “safety concerns” surrounding the structural integrity of the scaffolded remains of the building.
The government insisted that deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who also holds the housing brief, has offered the community several discussions online and in-person.
“It is clear from conversations it remains a sacred site. It is also clear that there is not a consensus about what should happen to it,” the government said in its statement.
“Being able to see the tower every day helps some people continue to feel close to those they lost. For others it is a painful reminder of what happened and is having a daily impact on some members of the community.”