Washington, D.C. – Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who has led the attack for the Trump Administration on the 87-year old food aid program that supports tens of millions of low-income Americans, claims (without offering any corroborating evidence) that 14,000 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients included owners of luxury vehicles such as Ferraris, Bentleys and Teslas.
Yet, critics charge that the broadside attack on SNAP is part of a disinformation campaign aimed at undermining a benefit relied on by some of the most vulnerable people in the U.S. and USVI, and that the decrease in numbers is due to legislation that changed how the program runs.
“4.3 million off SNAP and counting!” Ms. Rollins declared in a celebratory voice. “Under President Trump, Americans are getting back to work! Healthy employment numbers mean less reliance on government programs. Leaving benefits for those who truly need them. America is back in business! We’ve had wage growth that has outpaced inflation for the first time since 2021. This is a really big day. So, people don’t need food stamps.”
In reality, the unemployment rate is currently higher than when President Trump took office in February 2025 and there has been almost no growth in net employment since the President announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs just over a year ago. According to the Associated Press, Miss Rollins’ claims about SNAP were far more likely the result of Republican’s cuts to the program than any purported improvement in the economy. The cuts are expected to slash $35 billion from SNAP over the next decade.
“The current job creation numbers are nowhere near strong enough to explain the massive number of Americans losing access to SNAP,” stated one expert who studies food insecurity.
“Economic conditions haven’t been improving as the number of people receiving SNAP has plummeted in recent months, representing the sharpest decline in decades,” said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). “The deep cuts to federal funding for SNAP are shifting significant new costs to the states.”
The CBPP puts the reasoning behind the sharp decline in SNAP numbers at the GOP’s budget law which dramatically expands SNAP’s already harsh and ineffective provision taking away people’s benefits for not meeting the work requirement. It is considerably more difficult to access the program than it was in past years.
The Trump Administration’s claims that fraud within the program are not nearly enough to account for the dramatic drop in SNAP numbers. The latest data shows that out of the roughly 42 million total SNAP participants, there is only 42,000 (less than 1%) who erroneously reported false information during the enrollment process or have somehow been caught cheating the system.
“It is disgusting that the Trump Administration is bragging about kicking people off food assistance during a time when the price of groceries has continued to rise thanks in part to Trump’s own policies,” said Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio). “Better economy where? You mean the one where Americans paid $300 more on their groceries to compensate for Trump’s tariffs? Kicking 4.3 million Americans off of SNAP is not a flex, it’s a failure. That’s why I authored legislation to reverse the Trump SNAP cuts.”
The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ mandated that certain adults who were previously exempt from work requirements are now subject to them.
“Today’s families have really complicated situations and you can’t just say to people, in 10 days or in one month, go and find 80 hours a month of work when you don’t have the skills, and those jobs aren’t available in your community,” a job security expert summed up the situation.
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