The White House appears to be walking back President Donald Trump’s defiant refusal to release the more than $5 billion in the SNAP contingency funds that two federal judges ordered him to distribute.

In a Truth Social post, President Trump vowed to hold up the SNAP funds, writing that food stamp benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

But according to the White House, the administration is fully complying with the judges’ orders and the President was only talking about “future” emergencies, not the current shutdown.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked by a reporter on Tuesday to help “clear some confusion about SNAP benefits.”

RELATED: ‘Breaking the Law’: Trump Blasted After Threatening to Defy Judges’ Orders on SNAP Funds

“The president,” the reporter told Leavitt, “just posted that they will only be given out when the ‘radical left Democrats’ opened the government, and not before. But just yesterday, the administration said it would comply with the court order to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds by end of business day yesterday.”

“So, did the administration distribute that money or defy that court order?” the reporter asked.

“No,” Leavitt insisted, “the administration is fully complying with the court order.”

“I just spoke to the president about it,” she said, before appearing to chastise SNAP recipients and place blame on Democrats.

“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 claimed.

“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.”

READ MORE: Johnson Urges SNAP Recipients to Come ‘Home’ to Republican Party

“The best way to get the full amount of SNAP benefits to those beneficiaries is for Democrats to reopen the government,” she added, not explaining why it would take longer if the funds were to come from the contingency fund.

“So to anyone who is a SNAP beneficiary at home, who needs that assistance, and President was just saying, this is for people who are truly needy, who need food, who need this assistance from the United States government, Democrats are holding it up, and making it difficult for the administration to get those payments out the door,” Leavitt continued.

Leavitt claims the administration is complying with SNAP-related court orders but warns that “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… pic.twitter.com/R2BRawUL4e

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 4, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Pass Every Policy We Have Dreamt of’: Trump Again Urges GOP to Kill the Filibuster

Despite two federal judges ordering the Trump administration to fund food stamps for 42 million Americans whose payments were shut down on Saturday, President Donald Trump said he will not do so until the federal government is reopened.

SNAP benefits, Trump wrote on social media, “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

The New York Times reported that “Tens of millions of Americans will get only partial payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for this month, the Trump administration told a federal judge on Monday, and it was not clear when even those reduced benefits would be distributed.”

Critics were quick to respond.

READ MORE: Johnson Urges SNAP Recipients to Come ‘Home’ to Republican Party

“The president appears to be saying he will NOT abide by the court order to release SNAP benefits even though the WH said they would partially release them,” The Bulwark’s Sam Stein wrote.

He added, “an hour ago Trump’s own Ag Sec was explaining that they’d given guidance to states about how to administer SNAP benefits from the emergency fund. Now Trump is saying he won’t pay those benefits until the government is reopened.”

“Trump is both defying a court order and taking ownership of the ending of food benefits for needy people all during a shutdown fight that polls show him losing,” Stein observed, “and doing this just days after his Great Gatsby party!”

Media Matters’ senior fellow Matthew Gertz wrote: “Since the ‘No Kings’ rallies, the president has launched an ill-defined bombing campaign without congressional sanction; orchestrated federal charges against his enemies; promised not to release appropriated funds to a jurisdiction if it elects someone he opposes.” He added, “and now” before pointing to Stein’s remarks on Trump’s refusal.

READ MORE: ‘Pass Every Policy We Have Dreamt of’: Trump Again Urges GOP to Kill the Filibuster

U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) remarked: “To be clear, Trump isn’t just trying to deny food from hungry American families. He’s breaking the law so he can deny food from hungry American families.”

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) observed, “The President is suggesting he will defy a court order so he can starve kids, seniors, veterans, and families.”

Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias wrote: “Of all the things to break the seal on defying court orders over, I thought Trump would pick something politically savvier than ‘make poor kids go hungry.'”

West Virginia House of Delegates Democratic Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty commented, “Not sure on the category we put this in … pro-life, family values, or compassionate conservatism?”

Former Obama and Biden official Alex Jacquez noted, “If anyone had any doubt as to who is responsible for SNAP benefits not going out to 42 million people.”

READ MORE: ‘Date’s Lost’: Thune Undermines Johnson’s Strategy in Quest for Longer Funding Deal

Image via Reuters 

After the Trump administration was ordered by the federal courts to pay SNAP recipients during the federal government shutdown, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is urging Americans using food stamps and other social services to join the Republican Party.

Congressional Republicans slashed over $1 trillion from Medicaid and SNAP in President Donald Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

“People everywhere can see clearly who’s fighting and voting here every day, and delivering for them,” Johnson said in a press conference on Tuesday.

READ MORE: ‘Pass Every Policy We Have Dreamt of’: Trump Again Urges GOP to Kill the Filibuster

The Speaker has put the House in recess for weeks — its last vote was on September 19. Republicans have been directed to stay in their home districts. Many Democrats are still on Capitol Hill.

“I’ll say this clearly to every hard-working American, in any place who’s missed a paycheck, anyone who has been made to suffer because the services, the health services you rely upon, or the food and nutrition supplement for your family. Anyone who is hurting: You have a home in the Republican Party.”

“You have people here who are elected by their constituents to come and do their job, and they do it. They’re voting to support you, to make these programs available. To ensure that the people in need have them. And the Democrats, by stark contrast, are doing the exact opposite.”

Multiple polls have found that Americans blame Republicans for the shutdown more than Democrats.

Johnson: Anyone who has been made to suffer because of the health services you rely upon or the food and nutrition supplement for your family, anyone who is hurting, you have a home in the Republican party. You have people here who were elected by their constituents to come do… pic.twitter.com/jlBsd6L2Hk

— Acyn (@Acyn) November 4, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Date’s Lost’: Thune Undermines Johnson’s Strategy in Quest for Longer Funding Deal
 

Image via Reuters