As millions of Black Americans are set to lose SNAP, Trump heads to resort for weekend dinner with donors

“Without question, the cruelty of this shutdown is intentional,” said Alexsis Rodgers, political director at Black to the Future Action Fund.

President Donald Trump, Republicans, and Democrats in Congress have yet to come to a deal to reopen the federal government, leaving millions of Americans vulnerable to hunger and worsened economic pain as SNAP benefits expire on Saturday.

Trump, who returned from a nearly weeklong trip in Asia on Thursday, left Washington, D.C., on Friday to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. On Saturday, Trump will host a dinner with donors of MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting the president’s agenda.

Democrats have remained on Capitol Hill despite House Speaker Mike Johnson not calling Republicans back into session since the government shutdown. Ironically, the Trump White House on Halloween accused Democrats of “ghosting” the American people.

“GHOSTED: Democrats disappear on the American people when they need them the most,” the White House’s official social media accounts posted along with a graphic of ghosts surrounding the U.S. Capitol building.

Meanwhile, Democrats have blasted the Trump administration and Republicans for refusing to negotiate on demands to restore health care funding and reopen the government. They’ve also blasted the White House for declining to use emergency funds to partially fund SNAP, which expires on Nov. 1.

It marks the first time in history that SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps, has run out of funding since its creation in 1964.

Nearly 42 million Americans rely on SNAP food assistance, including about 11 million Black Americans, or 27% of total SNAP recipients, according to the Pew Research Center.

“This is yet another act of unnecessary cruelty by the Trump administration and his GOP allies in Congress,” said Black Voters Matter in a statement.

“We already know that Black people contend with unfair wages, and too many of us lack access to affordable, healthy foods. We will be disproportionately harmed by the government’s callousness and cruelty.”

“While millions of families face uncertainty and hunger, Trump and his allies are prioritizing the interests of billionaires, making life harder and more expensive for working-class people. Their reckless actions disproportionately harm Black communities,” said Alexsis Rodgers, political director at Black to the Future Action Fund.

“The Republican-led Congress moved quickly to pass Trump’s harmful bill, cutting essential services like SNAP and Medicaid…11 million Black people and their families who depend on SNAP to survive are at risk of losing access to food and basic dignity, especially in rural communities,” added Rodgers. “Without question, the cruelty of this shutdown is intentional.”

At some point, Trump signaled that he supported Republicans and Democrats working together to resolve the healthcare stalemate, including extending tax credits to make Obamacare more affordable. However, the president, on Friday, urged Republicans to eliminate the filibuster procedure in the U.S. Senate to bypass Democrats’ demands on health care and reopen the government without their votes.

As millions of families will likely go without food, Democrats and advocates characterized Trump and his Republican allies as “cruel” and even “illegal,” as a federal judge weighs whether to force the Trump administration to release emergency funds by law.

“America must be who she says she is. And who she says she is is a place that is supposed to establish justice, not establish injustice. A place that is supposed to promote the general welfare of all people, not the general hurt of some people,” said Bishop William Barber II, a vocal opponent of Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” which includes historic cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and $3.8 trillion tax cuts that mostly benefit wealthy Americans.

“That we are supposed to be a place that provides for the common defense, not just the defense of the lobbyists and the defense of the greedy.”

“It is not lost on me that the same people who created cruel work requirements for hungry people to get food have not shown up to work for a month,” said U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, during a recent convening for the Democratic Women’s Caucus. “Fund the SNAP program, keep families fed, come back from vacation, and call the House back into session and work with us to reopen the government and mitigate the crises they have caused.”

“Donald Trump…he’s the dealmaker, what we’ve heard. Well, where the hell is the great deal maker now? Democrats…we’re in Washington this week. We’re here and we aren’t on vacation like the Republicans. We’re ready to make a deal,” said Rep. Alma Adams of North Carolina during a press conference on Thursday.

“Mr. dealmaker, We’re ready to make a bipartisan deal that, first of all, would keep SNAP funded, that would reopen the government, that would extend the ACA tax credits and end the pain that’s being inflicted on American people.”

Black Voters Matter noted that while cuts to SNAP will disproportionately harm Black Americans, it will also hurt Trump’s own base of voters who supported him in the 2024 election.

“White people, who make up the largest racial group receiving benefits, will suffer significantly as well, especially those in red states. This means that Republicans’ refusal to fund SNAP will hurt their own voters the most,” said the advocacy group.

“They are showing us as clear as day that they do not care about their voters’ well-being, and they damn sure don’t care about ours.”