Trump administration is working to resume World Food Programme activities in several countries, including Syria

Informed sources revealed that the administration of US President Donald Trump on Tuesday resumed six foreign aid programs, targeting several countries, including Syria.

Media outlets quoted Reuters as saying that the acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Jeremy Lewin, who also works at the Department of Government Efficiency under billionaire Elon Musk, asked employees in an email to reverse the termination of these programs.

Five sources familiar with the matter reported that the programs requested to resume include the World Food Programme’s activities in Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Jordan, Iraq, and Ecuador.

Reuters reported on Monday that the Trump administration had ended “life-saving” aid programs in more than a dozen countries, including Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia, programs totaling more than $1.3 billion.

In the internal letter, Lowen told employees, “We apologize for all the confusion regarding the aid programs.”

Two sources indicated that the change in position was the result of pressure within the administration and from Congress, as well as a warning from the United Nations World Food Program that ending aid would constitute a “death sentence” for millions. The US State Department has not commented on the matter.

In a related development, Najat Rochdi, the UN’s deputy envoy to Syria, warned on Tuesday that suspending US food aid to Syria risks devastating humanitarian consequences, calling on the international community to “act now because Syrian lives are at stake.”

Hanan Shamout