World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain publicly appealed to the Trump administration for increased food assistance, warning that the shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development has left critical gaps in global hunger relief.
In an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan pressed McCain on whether the dismantling of USAID—a move finalized last July under Secretary of State Marco Rubio—had affected WFP operations. “I do. I really do,” McCain responded. “AID was an intimate part of all of these things, and of course we relied on them to a degree as well. I wish we still had AID, but it was the choice of this administration, and so we have to work with that.”
McCain emphasized the broader consequences of the aid cuts, expressing hope that the United States would eventually restore what she called “soft power aspects” of its foreign assistance. “I’m not criticizing anybody in the administration. I’m simply saying we need help,” she added.
The USAID closure, which President Trump pushed through shortly after returning to office, was defended by the administration as a crackdown on “waste, fraud, and abuse.” Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, boasted about putting the agency through the “wood chipper.” But a study published in the Lancet medical journal projected that the aid drawdowns could lead to over 14 million excess deaths globally.
The appeal from McCain—the widow of late Senator John McCain—comes as the Trump administration faces mounting criticism over its foreign policy decisions, including a pending decision on a new Iran deal and ongoing naval operations in the Strait of Hormuz. Critics argue that the dismantling of USAID undercuts American influence abroad at a time when global instability is rising.
Meanwhile, the administration’s broader agenda has sparked legal battles, including a federal judge blocking tariffs and the president’s moves to rename the Kennedy Center—a dispute that has drawn sharp rebukes from Trump. The USAID shutdown is part of a pattern of executive actions that have faced pushback from courts and advocacy groups, including a controversial NDA proposal for federal workers that unions and free speech advocates have condemned.
McCain’s plea underscores the human toll of the policy shift. The WFP, which relies heavily on U.S. contributions, has had to scale back rations in several crisis zones. “We need help,” she repeated, urging the administration to reconsider its approach. “I’m hoping that eventually we can put back some of the soft power aspects that we were able to do.”
