United Nations Approves Trump’s Nominee to Head World Food Programme

A document and a United Nations official revealed on Tuesday that UN Secretary-General António Guterres has accepted U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee, Luke Lindberg, among dozens of candidates for the leadership of the World Food Programme (WFP).

According to a letter dated September 11 to the chair of the WFP Board of Executive Directors, Guterres and FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu recommended Lindberg, a senior U.S. agricultural official.

The letter stated that approximately 54 candidates had applied for the position, and nine were shortlisted.

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told Reuters that the organization had accepted the recommendation of the recruitment committee for the post and had forwarded that recommendation to the WFP, awaiting a response from its board of directors.

A UN official said the nomination, first reported by the Devex platform, was expected to be approved by the programme’s board on Friday.

The WFP stated that nearly 300 million people face critical levels of hunger this year, with the situation worsening due to the “Iran war.”

Some U.S. contributions to the Rome-based programme are in-kind or conditional, requiring that the food supplies be of U.S. origin, thereby also supporting American agricultural companies.