Witness says Trump administration is using hunger "as a political weapon" by withholding SNAP

A witness at the meeting accused the Trump administration of intentionally making basic necessities more expensive and withholding food assistance as a tool of political leverage. "The Trump administration is going out of its way to make sure people don't have enough to eat," the witness said.

The witness listed electricity, food and health care among the rising costs and said those increases were "not a natural consequence of the economic cycle" but rather "intentional policies by the Trump administration." To illustrate the point, the speaker said, "There's enough money for a golden toilet," and repeated a claimed figure: "There's enough money for $40,000,000,000 for a right wing government in Argentina." The witness also referenced a new aircraft for the secretary of homeland security as an example of discretionary federal spending.

The speaker singled out SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, saying officials are "withhold[ing] it from regular people and as it relates to SNAP in particular." The witness framed the alleged withholding as a deliberate political tactic: "they really are using hunger as a political weapon." The witness additionally asserted it is "absolutely within the president's authority to make sure everybody gets fed."

The transcript contains no recorded response to these assertions, no debate in the record and no formal motions or votes related to the claims. The statements in this article are reported as claims the witness made; documentary or official confirmation of the cited spending items or of policy intent was not provided in the transcript.

The meeting record supplied does not identify the body convening the session, its date or any staff or official reply to the statements in the excerpt.