Trump Administration Will Burn 500 Tons of Food Meant to Feed 1.5 Million Children

The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to destroy nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food that was intended to feed starving children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to The Atlantic. The food — high-energy biscuits produced by U.S. farmers and purchased by USAID near the end of the Biden administration — could have nourished up to 1.5 million children for a week.

Now, instead of reaching those in need, the food will reportedly be burned — an act that will cost American taxpayers an estimated $130,000.

The decision follows the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by order of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which took over oversight of foreign assistance programs. Since then, no shipments could proceed without new authorization.

Initially, the responsibility for the food fell to Pete Marocco, a former Trump appointee. It was then passed to a law student, Jeremy Lewin, and later to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who currently holds multiple key roles in the administration — including Secretary of State, National Security Adviser, U.S. Archivist, and head of USAID.

In May, Rubio told lawmakers that the food would be distributed in time to avoid spoilage. However, according to The Atlantic, internal directives to incinerate the food were already underway at the time.

The food currently sits in a warehouse in Dubai, where it’s rapidly nearing expiration. UAE policy reportedly prohibits the biscuits from being repurposed for even animal consumption.

The decision stems in part from concerns inside the State Department that distributing food aid to countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan could unintentionally benefit terrorist groups, NPR previously reported.

But the outcome — incinerating hundreds of tons of food made with American resources — has sparked strong backlash.

“There is no greater example of waste than spending taxpayer dollars on lifesaving aid and then refusing to deliver that aid for so long, it spoils and must be incinerated,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said in a statement. “For years, USAID has purchased millions of tons of food from American farmers, sending American-grown products to save vulnerable children around the world.”

Photos from March show boxes of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) piled in warehouses in Fitzgerald, Georgia — waiting to be shipped before the contracts were abruptly canceled earlier this year. Though some USAID contracts were briefly reinstated, the fate of this shipment appears sealed.

The Trump administration has yet to publicly comment on the decision to destroy the shipment.