UN food aid agency gets $800 million grant from US after funding cuts

ROME, June 17 – The United Nations World Food Programme said on Wednesday it welcomed an $800 million contribution from the United States, following previous funding cuts from President Donald Trump’s administration.

The funds will help scale up assistance and respond rapidly to emerging crises at a time when global hunger is at record levels and the number of people facing acute hunger is expected to rise this year, WFP said.

• The U.S. is the WFP’s biggest donor, but its contribution more than halved from 2024 to around $2 billion in 2025.

• WFP said the new funding would allow it to pre-position food supplies, expand cash assistance programmes and maintain supply chains in crisis-hit areas such as Lebanon, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

• The U.S. has long been the world’s largest humanitarian donor, though its contributions have fluctuated sharply in recent years amid shifts in foreign aid policy.

• In 2025, U.S. humanitarian funding to the UN fell to about $3.38 billion from $14.1 billion a year earlier after major spending cuts.

• On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department also announced $218 million in assistance to the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF.

• The WFP is under temporary leadership while the U.S. seeks to place another American at the agency’s helm, following the resignation of Cindy McCain on health grounds. REUTERS