Examining Impacts, Capabilities, and Opportunities

The second Trump administration has brought significant uncertainty to global food and water security-two pillars of U.S. international engagement that have traditionally experienced strong bipartisan support from policymakers. Beginning in January 2025, stop-work orders effectively froze activities across core U.S. foreign assistance programs. The administration's dismantling of USAID and transfer of responsibilities to other government agencies has further disrupted coordination and oversight.

Global food security uncertainty deepened on May 2, 2025, when the Trump administration's FY 2026 budget request proposed major cuts to or eliminations of the McGovern-Dole, Food for Progress, and Food for Peace Title II programs, among others. Prior to these changes, the U.S. government was the world's largest donor to food security efforts. Over the past several decades, U.S. foreign food assistance has evolved from surplus commodity shipments to a complex network of programs combining surplus commodity shipments, technical assistance, local and regional procurement, agricultural investments, food vouchers, market-based aid, and direct food distribution to provide both emergency and non-emergency support. Core programs were administered through a wide range of agencies, funding streams, and legislative mandates-all of which are now in flux.

Global water security efforts have faced a similarly destabilizing trajectory throughout 2025. The U.S. Global Water Strategy -a whole-of-government approach across 14 agencies-lost much of its existing architecture, leaving thousands of projects halted mid-implementation or eliminated outright. Budget cuts, staffing reductions, and the shuffling of institutional roles and responsibilities threaten to undermine the Global Water Strategy's four key objectives.

In 2025, policy disruptions have substantially degraded U.S. capabilities to realize comprehensive and scalable solutions; engage and enhance local leadership; strengthen resilient economies; bolster stability and security; and increase policy integration across humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding objectives. Moving into FY 2026, the U.S. government's foreign food and water security capabilities will depend on the results of ongoing congressional negotiations over appropriations bills and the emerging priorities of the Trump administration.

Through an infographic, Caitlin Welsh, Rose Parker, and Joely Virzi map out the past and current architecture of U.S. foreign food assistance, while David Michel delves deeper into the sweeping changes to global water security through a commentary.

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Caitlin Welsh, Director, Global Food and Water Security Program David Michel, Senior Fellow, Global Food and Water Security ProgramRose Parker, Program Manager, Global Food and Water Security Program Joely Virzi, Program Coordinator and Research Assistant, Global Food and Water Security Program