US to burn food meant for starving Afghan, Pakistani children after Trump aid cuts

KABUL/ WASHINGTON DC (MNTV)— Nearly 500 tons of emergency food meant for starving children in Afghanistan and Pakistan will be incinerated after delays caused by Donald Trump’s shutdown of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The high-energy biscuits — designed to feed 27,000 malnourished children — expired this month while sitting in a Dubai warehouse. The food was left stranded after Trump dismantled USAID, citing cost-cutting and demanding that other countries “share the burden” of foreign aid.

According to internal memos reviewed by Reuters, aid officials managed to save 622 tons in June, rerouting it to Syria, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. But 496 tons — valued at $793,000 — could not be moved in time and will now be destroyed in the United Arab Emirates. The disposal alone will cost US taxpayers another $100,000.

Under congressional questioning, Deputy Secretary of State for Management Michael Rigas called the incident “a casualty of the shutdown” and said he was “distressed” that life-saving food was wasted.

The fortified wheat biscuits are calorie-dense, used in crisis zones where cooking facilities are unavailable. Aid workers say they are often the only source of immediate nutrition in humanitarian emergencies.

Senator Tim Kaine, who raised the issue in March, slammed the administration for letting the food expire. “A government that is put on notice — here are resources that will save 27,000 starving kids — and chooses to lock the warehouse and burn the food? That’s indefensible,” he said.

The Trump administration’s move to dismantle USAID earlier this year left tens of thousands of tons of food aid stuck in storage across the world. Critics say this reflects a broader trend of abandoning humanitarian commitments, especially in the Global South.

Despite the fallout, US officials maintain that America remains the world’s largest humanitarian donor, contributing over $61 billion in aid last year — more than half of it through USAID.

But for thousands of children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, that aid has come too late.