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Trump Administration to Destroy 496 Metric Tons of Expired Emergency Food Aid

Internal memos show distribution delays under State Department control forced the incineration of 496 metric tons of emergency biscuits at an added taxpayer cost of $100,000.

Image
Rahma Kaki Jubarra and her sons, who are emergency level malnourished, Farah, 9 months and Jabr, three and a half, receive aid at Almanar feeding center in Mayo Mandala on the outskirts of Omdurman, Sudan, on May 25, 2025.
U.S. President Donald Trump.
The shadow of a Philippine Army personnel is cast on boxes of relief items from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for the victims of super typhoon Haiyan, at Villamor Air Base in Manila November 13, 2013.

Overview

  • 496 metric tons of high-energy emergency biscuits in a Dubai warehouse expired this month and are slated for destruction, costing U.S. taxpayers about $100,000.
  • The stock of emergency rations was procured for approximately $800,000 near the end of the previous administration and stored for children displaced by conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
  • A January executive order dissolved USAID under the Department of Government Efficiency, shifting foreign aid authority to the State Department and halting routine distribution approvals.
  • Negotiators secured the transfer of 622 metric tons of expiring biscuits to the World Food Programme in June, but significant inventories remain at risk of spoilage.
  • Aid organizations warn that the wasted supplies worsen global hunger as USAID’s operational capacity remains crippled with over 60,000 metric tons of food aid stranded worldwide.