UN food program head warns of US budget cuts amid famine

ROME – The outgoing head of the United Nations World Food Program says she is certain Congress will reject the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts for U.N. aid agencies, saying “No one in America believes that ‘America First’ means that other people must die.”

Executive Director Ertharin Cousin leaves the program Tuesday after a five-year term leading the world’s largest humanitarian organization. U.N. officials appointed former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, the Trump administration’s pick, as her successor last week.

In a blunt interview on the eve of her departure, Cousin joined Congressional Democrats and Republicans in rejecting the proposed cuts. While specific WFP figures weren’t released, Cousin said: “I sincerely believe that no American wants to see images of starving babies.”