Trump threatens food aid as cities, nonprofits ask judge to intervene

5/11/2025 6:35

U.S. President Donald Trump created confusion on Tuesday when he said that food assistance aid for millions of Americans will be given out only when the federal government shutdown ends, as lawyers for cities and nonprofits urged a federal judge to force the White House to fully fund the benefits.



Trump, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, 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!"



The Republican president's threat to withhold SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans came a day after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would use emergency funding to pay for reduced benefits in November after a judge blocked its plans to suspend payments during the shutdown.



White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Tuesday press briefing that the administration is fully complying with the court order and that Trump was referring to future SNAP benefits in his post.