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US President Donald Trump has said that federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will only be distributed once Democrats vote to end the ongoing government shutdown. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that SNAP benefits "will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!" The President also claimed that food aid had been "haphazardly ‘handed' to anyone for the asking" under Joe Biden, rather than being limited to those in need. SNAP payments did increase during the previous administration after Mr Biden signed a 2021 executive order requiring the Thrifty Food Plan to adjust its guidelines for inflation — a move that raised average benefits by about $36 per person, according to the Network for Public Health Law. Trump's remarks come a day after administration lawyers told a federal court in Rhode Island that the government would draw on a contingency fund to issue partial food stamp payments for November. The Justice Department said the Agriculture Department would provide states with the data needed to calculate benefits for eligible households, allowing disbursements to begin. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on X that her agency had sent the guidance to states on Tuesday morning, but warned the process would be "cumbersome" and could delay payments by several weeks. The shutdown entered its 35th day on Tuesday, putting it on course to become the longest in US history, surpassing the funding lapse that occurred during Trump's first term. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News and around the World.
