US President Donald Trump on Tuesday moved to reinstate at least six recently canceled US foreign aid programs for emergency food assistance, marking a swift reversal of decisions made just days earlier.
The move highlights the rapid and sometimes erratic nature of the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts, which have seen programs abruptly canceled, reinstated, and then canceled again—disrupting international humanitarian operations.
USAID Acting Deputy Administrator Jeremy Lewin, reportedly affiliated with billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), directed staff via an internal email to reverse the terminations.
Lewin instructed the restoration of awards to the World Food Programme in Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Jordan, Iraq, and Ecuador.
Additionally, the administration has resumed four awards to the International Organization for Migration in the Pacific region.
“Sorry for all the back and forth on awards. There are a lot of stakeholders and we need to do better about balancing these competing interests — that’s my fault and I take responsibility,” Lewin wrote in the internal communication.
According to Stand Up For Aid, an advocacy group of current and former US officials, World Food Programme contracts canceled last weekend for Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, and Jordan amounted to more than $463 million.
Many of the affected programs had initially received waivers from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio following a previous round of foreign aid cuts.
As of the time of filing this report, the State Department has not issued a comment on the restoration of the awards.