US suspends all assistance to Somalia government

The United States says that it has suspended all assistance to the government of Somalia, alleging that officials destroyed a World Food Program warehouse filled with food aid it funded, reports Al Jazeera.  In a social media post on Wednesday, the administration of US President Donald Trump alleged that Somali officials had seized 76 metric ton of donor-funded food aid that had been intended for Somalis in need. 

"The US is deeply concerned by reports that Federal Government of Somalia officials have destroyed a US-funded World Food Program (WFP) warehouse and illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid for vulnerable Somalis," the post said.

"The Trump Administration has a zero-tolerance policy for waste, theft, and diversion of life-saving assistance." 
The announcement was made on the social media platform representing the US State Department's Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs and Religious Freedom.

Somali officials have not yet responded to the allegations of aid theft. 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.

His administration has also stepped up air strikes targeting armed groups in Somalia itself.

Notably, in a December cabinet meeting, Trump personally levelled racist attacks against the Somali community in the US, saying they are "destroying America". He also attacked Ilhan Omar, a Democratic representative from Somalia who arrived in the US as a child refugee.

"We're going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country," Trump said at the December 2 meeting.

"Ilhan Omar is garbage, just garbage. Her friends are garbage. These aren't people that work. These aren't people that say, 'Let's go, come on, let's make this place great.' These are people that do nothing but complain."

As part of his tirade, Trump cited a fraud scandal in the mid-western state of Minnesota, which has seen some members of the large Somali community there charged with wrongdoing.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has since indicated that Trump could use denaturalization - the revocation of US citizenship - as "a tool" to penalize Somali Americans involved in the fraud scheme.