U.S. Suspends Aid to Somalia and South Sudan Over Theft

The United States Department of State suspended all assistance to the Somali federal government on January 7, 2026, after alleging that officials demolished a U.S.-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at the Mogadishu Port and seized 76 metric tons of food aid. U.S. officials claim President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud directed the demolition without donor coordination. The Somali government denied the theft, asserting that the demolition was part of planned port expansion and that aid remained under WFP custody. The WFP later confirmed the warehouse was destroyed but reported retrieving 75 metric tons of nutritional commodities intended for malnourished women and children.

Simultaneously, the U.S. suspended foreign assistance to Ayod County in Jonglei State, South Sudan, and placed aid in Western Bahr el-Ghazal State under review. These actions followed the January 2 detention of an aid worker by a county commissioner and a blockade of pharmaceutical supplies by a state health minister. The government of South Sudan dismissed these accusations as unfounded and claimed it had not received official diplomatic communication regarding the freeze.

These diplomatic ruptures coincide with broader Trump administration policies, including the termination of temporary protected status for Somali immigrants, U.S.-supported recognition of Somaliland by Israel, and immigration raids targeting Somali communities in Minneapolis. The U.S. has conditioned the resumption of aid on both governments taking accountability and implementing remedial steps to prevent the misuse of assistance.