The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to destroy nearly 500 tons of emergency food rations—enough to feed 1.5 million children for a week—as it continues to scale back nearly all foreign aid operations.
According to The Atlantic, the high-energy biscuits, specifically designed to meet the nutritional needs of children under five, are set to expire on Wednesday. Originally designated for emergency relief efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the biscuits have remained unused in a Dubai warehouse for months.
Typically distributed in disaster zones before aid kitchens can be established, these biscuits are considered critical to preventing child starvation. But after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, dismantled USAID earlier this year, all foreign assistance—including food—was frozen pending direct approval from political leadership.
Despite repeated requests from federal staff to ship the rations before they spoiled, no approval was granted. Sources told The Atlantic that the food could have been handed off to the UN’s World Food Programme, but under current protocols, no aid can move without authorization from the new leadership.
The official now holding that authority is Jeremy Lewin, a law school graduate in his 20s appointed by DOGE. Multiple memos requesting his signoff were reportedly ignored.
While Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed in May that the food would be delivered before it expired, sources say the destruction order had already been issued. The incineration process itself will cost U.S. taxpayers roughly $130,000.
The decision has drawn widespread outrage from humanitarian groups and foreign policy experts, who say the episode highlights the dysfunction and politicization of American aid under the current administration.
