President Donald Trump said Tuesday that federal food benefits won’t be distributed until after Democrats agree to reopen the government.
Hours later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt contradicted the president, saying food benefits would go out after all.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, it was basically unclear what was going on, except that Trump had placed himself at the center of governing chaos.
In a Truth Social post on Tuesday morning, Trump said Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
Trump’s announcement was a shocking reversal from Monday, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, said it would abide by court orders to pay at least partial benefits by tapping a contingency fund.
The USDA had said in a court filing that it “intends to deplete SNAP contingency funds completely and provide reduced SNAP benefits for November 2025.”
Leavitt later said the USDA would, in fact, obey the court order.
“The administration is fully complying with the court order. I just spoke to the president about it,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House. “We are digging into a contingency fund that is supposed to be for emergencies, catastrophes, for war, and the president does not want to have to tap into this fund in the future, and that’s what he was referring to in his Truth Social post.”
Leavitt’s description of the Truth Social post, which is quoted in full below, was incorrect. Trump did not reference the contingency fund. He said only that SNAP benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government ... and not before.”
The USDA has not responded to requests for comment.
Democrats blasted the idea of not paying the benefits.
“The president is not a king. He is not free to disregard the rule of law whenever it becomes politically inconvenient for him,” Rep. Angie Craig (Minn.), the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement. “The Trump administration must comply with recent court orders to fund SNAP in November for millions of hungry seniors, children, veterans and the disabled.”
More than 22 million American households, containing approximately 42 million people, receive SNAP benefits each month, averaging around $350 per household, which can be used to purchase food at grocery stores.
The USDA initially stated it couldn’t pay November’s SNAP allotment, but then announced on Monday that it could after being ordered to do so by the court. November’s benefits were supposed to start going out for some recipients on Saturday, and the USDA said there could be further delays. It said there was only enough money in its contingency fund to cover 50% of benefits, requiring state agencies responsible for distributing the funds to go through a potentially lengthy process to adjust benefit amounts.
The interruption of food benefits is one of the biggest impacts of a government shutdown that has dragged on for six weeks since Democrats refused to support a government funding bill that didn’t address health insurance subsidies expiring at year’s end.
Republican leaders have rebuffed calls for stand-alone legislation to keep SNAP benefits flowing, saying piecemeal agency funding would reduce the pressure on Democrats to fully reopen the government.
On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) praised the Trump administration for agreeing to pay partial SNAP benefits.
“The SNAP benefit is a very important question. The White House has bent over backwards, as we’ve recounted here every morning, to make sure that Americans’ pain is mitigated as much as possible,” Johnson said, before going on to praise the administration for complying with a court order and agreeing to make partial payments.
Within minutes, Trump made a fool of Johnson.
In his Truth Social post, Trump pointed to higher SNAP spending during his predecessor’s administration, although the increase began in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, in Trump’s first term.
“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump wrote.
The plaintiffs in one of the cases that went against the Trump administration ― a group of nonprofits and local governments in Rhode Island ― immediately notified the federal court there of what Trump had said.
“Defendants are withholding SNAP benefits from individuals and families who need vital food assistance for partisan political gain,” the groups wrote. “The President’s post confirms that Defendants are holding full SNAP benefits hostage for political leverage during the shutdown.”
The groups, which include the Rhode Island State Council of Churches and the United Way of Rhode Island, have also asked the court to insist the administration pay full benefit amounts.
Democrats seemed unsure what to make of Leavitt’s statement that contradicted the president.
“She has to say they’re gonna comply with the law, otherwise she’s admitting that they’re gonna violate the law,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) told HuffPost. “I mean, even paying partial benefits is fucked up. They have the ability to pay full benefits.”
Some Democrats, however, might be feeling the pressure. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told HuffPost the prospect of a major SNAP interruption “makes it more urgent” for senators to reach some sort of bipartisan agreement. But Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said the president’s announcement was unhelpful.
“It’s a sad day when a judge has to order the president of United States to give food assistance to 44 million Americans,” Warnock said. “And now that he’s gotten that order, he has said he will defy it.”
Jen Bendery and Igor Bobic contributed reporting.