OTTAWA - The new head of the United Nations World Food Program — and a Donald Trump supporter — says he is confident the U.S. president's plans for massive foreign aid cuts will never come to pass.

David Beasley took the helm of the UN agency last month, but spent several months before that working the halls of Congress to ensure there was enough bipartisan support to block any spending cut proposed by the White House.

Beasley, a former South Carolina governor, told The Canadian Press he wasn't interested in taking a new job that would see him "walk into a buzz saw" of budget cuts.

Trump wants to slash U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid spending, while bolstering the defence budget by tens of billions of dollars. He has also questioned the need to continue the billions in annual U.S. funding for UN agencies.

This comes in the face of the worst humanitarian crisis in 70 years, with an unprecedented level of war and famine in Africa and the Middle East. More than 16 million people face starvation in Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan, while the ongoing wars in Yemen and Syria are leaving millions more facing food security issues.

All of this has Beasley deeply worried, which is why he said he was determined to take the pulse of U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle before accepting his new appointment. He met officials in the new White House, as well those in the State Department.

It was an effort Canadians are familiar with: Beasley's approach mirrored the Trudeau government's fact-based lobbying assault on all levels of U.S. government after Trump won power.

Just as Trudeau and his cabinet ministers are trying to persuade Trump of the value of maintaining open Canada-U.S. trading relations, Beasley is making the case that it is simply not in America's national security interest to essentially stop underwriting the international aid apparatus.

"I explain it to them in their language, because I come from that side of the political dynamic," he said.

"If you are an America First type person, then you should support these programs, because if you don't, the consequences are much graver."

Beasley said he won commitments from Republicans and Democrats after talking to "my friends in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House who are in key strategic positions." His meetings included the heads of powerful committees such as appropriations and foreign relations.

He also believes he can persuade Trump himself, advancing a version of the same argument the Trudeau Liberals are using to dial down the president's protectionist trade rhetoric.

"By the end of the day, when President Trump has received sufficient knowledge of the facts of the reality of the situation he too will be a great supporter of these humanitarian programs because it's in the U.S. interest to support these programs."

But Beasley said he's taking nothing for granted, which is why he will continue to be a periodic fixture on Capitol Hill as well as other foreign capitals such as Ottawa, where he visited this week. Beasley is reassured that the 2017 funding levels are safe.

"There still is going to be a major fight in the United States Senate and House over the 2018 budget," he explained.

"I was on the Hill this week, on the Hill three weeks ago, I'll be back on the Hill three weeks from now again, walking the halls, meeting with the leadership, talking with the White House, continuing to build a coalition of support."

The U.S. is the largest donor to major UN agencies, and provided $2 billion to the WFP last year, about one-quarter of its budget. Canada is the WFP's current no. 2 donor a status that fluctuates in the top five, he said.

One of Beasley's fellow South Carolina Republicans, Sen. Lindsey Graham, has said Trump's planned spending cuts will be "dead on arrival" when they reach Congress.

Another prominent South Carolina politician, ex-governor Nikki Haley, now the U.S. ambassador to the UN, nominated Beasley to head the WFP at time of unprecedented demand for its services.

"It's a different political dynamic out there today. Look at the United States politics, look at Brexit, look at France," said Beasley.

"With different times, you need different styles of leadership. So here we are."

News from © The Canadian Press, 2017