The U.S. State Department has confirmed that nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food rations will be destroyed in the United Arab Emirates after the supplies expired, following a freeze on foreign aid and the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by the Trump administration. The energy-dense biscuits, purchased late in the Biden administration for about US$800,000 and stored in a Dubai warehouse, were intended for malnourished children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Aid officials say the stock could have fed roughly 1.5 million children for a week, yet disposal will now add an estimated US$100,000–130,000 in taxpayer costs for incineration or landfill fees. Internal memos reviewed by Reuters show career aid workers warned for weeks that the food was nearing expiry and urged political appointees to authorize its release. While 622 metric tons were eventually cleared in June for distribution by the U.N. World Food Programme, 496 tons remained stuck. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had told Congress in May that no food aid would be wasted, but documents indicate approvals were delayed until destruction became inevitable. Lawmakers and humanitarian groups say the case highlights broader fallout from the shuttering of USAID, which has left more than 60,000 tons of U.S.–funded food stranded worldwide amid record global hunger. The State Department counters that the biscuits were surplus contingency stocks bought under the previous administration and that limited disposals have occurred in past years.