By Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration is looking to work with the World Food Programme to modify the awards that it is funding in at least six countries, a State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday, after the programs were terminated and then reinstated.
Confirming Reuters reporting on Tuesday that the administration moved to restore six recently canceled U.S. foreign aid programs for emergency food assistance, the State Department spokesperson said Washington’s work to review and reorient U.S. foreign aid was still ongoing.
“While they have been reinstated, the State Department and USAID intend to work with WFP to modify awards in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Ecuador, and Somalia to better align with Administration priorities,” the spokesperson, who requested anonymity, said in an emailed response.
It was not immediately clear what kind of a modification Washington was seeking.
WFP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters reported on Monday that the Trump administration had ended life-saving aid programs for more than a dozen countries including Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Syria, totaling over $1.3 billion.
WFP said on Monday that the U.S. notified the organization it was eliminating emergency food assistance funding in 14 countries, warning: “If implemented, this could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation.”
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday: “We share WFP’s concern about the impact of these cuts on some of the world’s most vulnerable people, many of whom live on the threshold of survival.”
The State Department spokesperson said the WFP awards that Washington terminated including in Yemen and in Afghanistan were based “on credible and longstanding concerns” that the money was benefiting the Taliban and Iran-aligned Houthis, both of which the United States has designated as terrorist groups.
“To date, USAID has terminated less than 15% of pre-existing WFP awards and the United States has nearly 130 active programs with the WFP, who remains an important partner,” the spokesperson said.
Other programs with WFP that were terminated were contrary to an America First agenda and didn’t make America stronger, safer, or more prosperous, the spokesperson added.
The cuts have been the latest piece of the Trump administration’s drive to dismantle USAID, the main U.S. humanitarian aid agency.
The administration has canceled billions of dollars in foreign aid since the Republican president began his second term on January 20 in an overhaul that aid workers said jeopardized the delivery of life-saving food and medical aid and threw global humanitarian relief efforts into chaos.
The spokesperson on Wednesday said all decisions made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio “are in consultation with senior USAID and State Department leadership and the White House.”
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York; editing by Diane Craft)
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