{"id":3799,"date":"2026-01-08T13:35:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T13:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/home\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid"},"modified":"2026-01-08T14:02:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T14:02:33","slug":"us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid","title":{"rendered":"US Suspends Assistance to Somali Government for Alleged Seizure of Aid"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ap-summary\" dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\n<h4>What You Need to Know<\/h4>\n<p>The United States has suspended all assistance to Somalia, alleging that officials destroyed a World Food Programme warehouse and seized donor-funded food aid. This decision reflects ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and Somali officials, amid broader criticisms of the Somali community in the US.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa. <\/strong> <\/span>The Trump administration has accused Somali officials of destroying a World Food Programme warehouse that contained US-funded food aid.<\/p>\n<p>The United States says that it has suspended all assistance to the government of Somalia, alleging that officials destroyed a World Food Programme warehouse filled with food aid it funded.<\/p>\n<p>In a social media post on Wednesday, the administration of US President Donald Trump alleged that Somali officials had seized 76 metric tonnes of donor-funded food aid that had been intended for Somalis in need.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe US is deeply concerned by reports that Federal Government of Somalia officials have destroyed a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid for vulnerable Somalis,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Trump Administration has a zero-tolerance policy for waste, theft, and diversion of life-saving assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The announcement was made on the social media platform representing the US State Department\u2019s Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs and Religious Freedom.<\/p>\n<p>Somali officials have not yet responded to the allegations of aid theft.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the stark measure continues a recent trend under the Trump administration. In recent months, President Trump has leaned into criticism of Somalis living in the United States and placed restrictions on Somalis seeking to enter the US.<\/p>\n<p>His administration has also stepped up air strikes targeting armed groups in Somalia itself.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, in a December cabinet meeting, Trump personally levelled racist attacks against the Somali community in the US, saying they are \u201cdestroying America\u201d. He also attacked Ilhan Omar, a Democratic representative from Somalia who arrived in the US as a child refugee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country,\u201d Trump said at the December 2 meeting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIlhan Omar is garbage, just garbage. Her friends are garbage. These aren\u2019t people that work. These aren\u2019t people that say, \u2018Let\u2019s go, come on, let\u2019s make this place great.\u2019 These are people that do nothing but complain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As part of his tirade, Trump cited a fraud scandal in the midwestern state of Minnesota, which has seen some members of the large Somali community there charged with wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has since indicated that Trump could use denaturalisation \u2013 the revocation of US citizenship \u2013 as \u201ca tool\u201d to penalise Somali Americans involved in the fraud scheme.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has also ramped up immigration enforcement raids in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a city with the largest Somali community in the US.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has dramatically scaled back US humanitarian assistance since returning to the White House in 2025, and it is not clear how much aid will be affected by the suspension of assistance.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden had provided about $770m in assistance for projects in Somalia, but only a small portion went towards the Somali government.<\/p>\n<p>In announcing Wednesday\u2019s aid freeze, the US State Department signalled that assistance could resume \u2013 but only with an acknowledgement of responsibility from the Somali government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny resumption of assistance will be dependent upon the Somali Federal Government, taking accountability for its unacceptable actions and taking appropriate remedial steps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The relationship between the United States and Somalia has been complex, shaped by decades of civil conflict and humanitarian crises. The US has historically provided aid to Somalia, particularly during periods of famine and instability. However, recent political dynamics, particularly under the Trump administration, have seen a shift towards stricter immigration policies and heightened scrutiny of Somali officials and communities, impacting aid and diplomatic relations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Africa<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What You Need to Know The United States has suspended all assistance to Somalia, alleging that officials destroyed a World Food Programme warehouse and seized donor-funded food aid. This decision reflects ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and Somali officials, amid broader criticisms of the Somali community in the US. Africa. The Trump administration has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":3798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[120,1021,524,121,796,629],"class_list":{"0":"post-3799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-policy","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-food-aid","10":"tag-foreign-relations","11":"tag-somalia","12":"tag-trump-administration","13":"tag-us-aid"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US Suspends Assistance to Somali Government for Alleged Seizure of Aid - Africa Press English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The US halts assistance to Somalia, accusing officials of destroying a WFP warehouse and seizing food aid meant for the needy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Suspends Assistance to Somali Government for Alleged Seizure of Aid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The US halts assistance to Somalia, accusing officials of destroying a WFP warehouse and seizing food aid meant for the needy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Africa Press English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-08T13:35:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-08T14:02:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/01\/sm_1767880650.324756.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1071\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"US Suspends Assistance to Somali Government for Alleged Seizure of Aid\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-08T13:35:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-08T14:02:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid\"},\"wordCount\":661,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/01\/sm_1767880650.324756.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\",\"Food Aid\",\"foreign relations\",\"Somalia\",\"Trump administration\",\"US aid\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/us-suspends-assistance-to-somali-government-for-alleged-seizure-of-aid\",\"name\":\"US Suspends Assistance to Somali Government for Alleged Seizure of Aid - 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