Trump’s Refusal to Give Bread to the Poor

Boston – A president who moves billions like play money declares a state of emergency for his own people. While families wait in the cold outside food distribution centers, lawyers in Trump’s Justice Department argue in warmth that they no longer owe anyone bread. On Friday, the White House went to the Court of Appeals to stop a judge’s order requiring it to pay full SNAP benefits for November. Federal Judge John McConnell Jr. had ordered Trump not to let millions of people go hungry. The response came quickly: the government could not spend more than what was available in the contingency fund. Translated, it means – better to let people starve than scratch one’s own prestige.

As more Texans face interruptions to their SNAP benefits, the organization Second Servings continues to work tirelessly to feed the community. Its pop-up stand at the Burnett-Bayland Center in Houston ensures that people still have access to food and basic support. Tihinna Franklin, a bus attendant, nine cents in her account. Three frozen meals in the freezer. “If the money doesn’t come, I won’t eat.” This is what Trump’s “liquidity policy” sounds like.

In front of the food distribution centers of Feeding Tampa Bay, the lines of hungry people are growing longer and longer. Since the SNAP benefits stopped being paid, the crowds have grown daily – an image of paralysis in the American shutdown. The program in question is simple: SNAP – food assistance for those who have nothing left. Over 42 million people, one in eight in the country, depend on it. But while judges try to enforce humanity, the Justice Department writes in its brief: “Courts have no right to decide on expenditures.” It sounds as if they wanted to pawn off the Constitution for cash.

California and Wisconsin have already responded, freeing up their own funds. “The food is flowing again,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. Connecticut dipped into its state treasury: 72 million dollars to plug the gap. “This back and forth is driving people crazy. We can help – so we do it.” Other states like Missouri or North Dakota are still waiting for orders from Washington, as if it were about troop movements, not breakfast. What is happening here is no accident. It is method. Trump wants to project toughness, no matter who pays the price. Hunger as a show of power. The shutdown is no longer a budget crisis but a political weapon. The poor are his testing ground, SNAP his symbol.

The numbers speak for themselves: nine billion dollars for monthly food assistance. The contingency fund holds 4.6 billion – enough to cover at least the essentials. But Trump holds back, while at the same time shifting billions to Argentina and celebrating military spending. He calls it “liquidity.” In truth, it is deprivation – cold, calculated, full of contempt. In the cities, people are lining up again as if the 1930s had returned. A nation that still calls itself the richest on earth is letting mothers and children go hungry while its president plans parties and ballrooms. That is no accident. That is Trump. This is the new American welfare state: ICE hunts migrants, SNAP is blocked, courts are silenced. And above it all sits the Donfather, dressing his policy in gold and calling it “Beautiful.”