Luke Lindberg Named to Lead the World Food Programme

Key facts

• The United Nations announced the appointment of United States agriculture official Luke Lindberg to head the World Food Programme (WFP).
• Lindberg will replace Cindy McCain as executive director of the Rome-based WFP, with the joint announcement made by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Qu Dongyu after the WFP board confirmed its agreement.
• Lindberg, the son-in-law of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, is the US Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs.
• Lindberg, aged 37, takes the helm as the WFP struggles to raise money to help feed tens of millions of people in need.
• Lindberg has been in his USDA role for just over a year, and President Donald Trump nominated him to head the World Food Program.
• A native of South Dakota, Lindberg founded and served as president of the South Dakota Trade Association and earlier served as chief of staff and chief strategy officer of the US Export-Import Bank in the first Trump administration.
• McCain stepped down in February after suffering a mild stroke in October 2025, and deputy executive director Carl Skau has been acting executive director since her departure and will remain in that position until Lindberg takes over.
• The WFP relies on donations and says as many as 266 million people are facing acute hunger, but it aims to help just 110 million this year because of funding cuts; the United States has for many years been the largest donor, and an American has headed the agency since the early 1990s.