FLASH
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Nearly 500 tons of highly nutritious biscuits, intended to feed an estimated 1.5 million malnourished children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, are set to burn in the coming weeks due to the Trump administration’s inaction. The food, purchased by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for $800,000 during the Biden administration, has been left to rot in a warehouse in Dubai, The Atlantic reports.
The biscuits, designed to meet the nutritional needs of children under the age of 5, are an emergency measure for situations where people have lost their homes due to natural disasters or war, and where aid organizations cannot set up kitchens for immediate distribution. The supplies were scheduled to be distributed later this year to address the severe malnutrition crisis in Afghanistan, where an estimated 15.8 million people face severe food insecurity, and in Pakistan, where thousands of Afghan refugees have returned from deportation.
However, since January 2025, a blanket freeze on foreign aid and the dismantling of USAID under the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Trump administration appointees, has blocked any efforts to distribute these foods. According to insiders, USAID staff had been warning for months that the cookies were nearing their expiration date, but their requests for approval for distribution were never answered by the new leaders, including Jeremy Lewin, a DOGE official.
In April 2025, the Trump administration cut off all humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and Yemen, arguing that the food could benefit groups classified as terrorists, such as the Taliban or the Houthis. However, no similar justification has been given for the cutoff of aid to Pakistan. Critics point out that the food could have been redirected to other crisis areas, such as Sudan, where the war has caused the worst famine in decades, or even Gaza, where, according to USAID calculations, these biscuits could have met the nutritional needs of every food-insecure child for a week.
Now, due to UAE policies, the expired biscuits cannot even be used as animal feed, and destroying them will cost US taxpayers an additional $130,000, on top of the $800,000 initially spent to purchase them. A USAID employee with decades of experience in foreign aid described the situation as unprecedented, saying he had never seen such a large amount of food wasted in this way.
The decision has sparked strong reactions. The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the lack of aid is leaving only one in ten Afghans in urgent need of food support, while globally, 58 million people are at risk of extreme hunger due to a lack of funding.
On social media, various posts on the X platform have called the action “cruel” and “heartless,” fueling heated debates about the Trump administration’s priorities. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had promised in May 2025 that food aid would reach its intended beneficiaries before it expired, but the order to burn the cookies had already been issued. The State Department has not provided a clear explanation for the failure to deliver, adding to criticism of a lack of transparency and competence.
The incident highlights the dire consequences of cutting humanitarian aid and dismantling USAID, leaving millions of vulnerable people on the brink of humanitarian disaster. As the cookies turn to ash, questions about accountability and US foreign policy priorities continue to grow.
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