The White House said Tuesday it is complying with a federal court order to tap into a contingency fund to distribute Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, clarifying earlier comments from President Trump where he appeared to say he would withhold those funds.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a press briefing the administration was “fully complying” with the court order and was working to get partial SNAP payments “out the door as much as we can and as quickly as we can.”
“The recipients of these SNAP benefits need to understand it’s going to take some time to receive this money because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position,” Leavitt said.
Trump sparked confusion earlier Tuesday when he posted on Truth Social that SNAP benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
Asked how Trump’s earlier post did not amount to defying a court order, Leavitt said the president was referring to “future SNAP payments.
“He does not want to have to keep tapping into an emergency fund and depleting it in the case of a catastrophe in this country,” she said. “He wants to have those funds preserved, as they should be.”
A federal judge directed the Trump administration late last month to use available emergency funds to keep SNAP benefits going. The White House said Monday that it would not be tapping into other funds, calling it “an unacceptable risk.”
The administration said it would send out reduced SNAP benefits while noting the process to recalculate could result in significant delays.
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