The US has suspended all assistance to the government of Somalia, alleging that officials destroyed a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and seized “donor-funded food aid”.<\/p>\n
“The Trump administration has a zero-tolerance policy for waste, theft, and diversion of life-saving assistance,” said a US state department statement on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n The message, posted on the account of the under secretary for foreign assistance, said reports had been received about officials illegally seizing 76 tonnes of food intended for “vulnerable Somalis”.<\/p>\n Somali has denied the allegations, saying that the expansion work under way in the Mogadishu port, where the warehouse is located, had not affected any aid storage.<\/p>\n It stressed that all the humanitarian aid in question was still “under the custody and control of the World Food Programme including assistance provided by the United States”.<\/p>\n A WFP staff member in Mogadishu, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to the AFP news agency that the food aid had not been stolen.<\/p>\n “The warehouse was partially demolished during the weekend without the knowledge of the WFP team, but there was no looting involved,” they said.<\/p>\n The US said it would only resume assistance if the Somali government took “accountability for its unacceptable actions and… appropriate remedial steps”.<\/p>\n Although the US has withdrawn from several UN organisations under President Donald Trump, it remains by far the largest contributor to the WFP<\/a>, paying $2bn (\u00a31.5bn) in 2025 – almost a third of its total funding.<\/p>\n Somalia’s government is battling al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants as it tries to rebuild the country after a devastating civil war and years of drought.<\/p>\n This is the latest example of the deteriorating relations between Washington and Mogadishu.<\/p>\n Last month, Trump lashed out at Somali migrants living in the US, telling reporters they should “go back to where they came from” and “their country is no good for a reason”<\/a>.<\/p>\n