Budget crisis in the USA

White House says against Trump: Food aid must be paid

The US government will comply with the court decision that means that food aid to the needy must be distributed. This is what press secretary Karoline Leavitt says during a press conference at the White House.

This comes hours after President Donald Trump conditioned the aid on the Democrats breaking the shutdown of the government.

- The presidential administration is fully complying with the court decision on food aid, says Karoline Leavitt according to Reuters.

Several cities and independent organizations accuse the government of delaying the aid and have again asked a judge to force the government to pay it out, according to Bloomberg. The judge has given the government a day to respond and called for a hearing on Thursday.

Trump defies court – blackmails Democrats with food stamps

There will be no distribution of food stamps to the needy in the USA until the Democrats agree to end the government shutdown. This was stated by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, in defiance of a court ruling that at least parts of the food aid must be distributed, American media reports.

In a post on Truth Social, he writes that the food aid will be given "only when the radical left Democrats open the government", according to CBS. The shutdown, which has lasted 35 days so far, will be the longest in the country's history if it continues.

42 million Americans, about one eighth of the citizens, receive food stamps through the program. The US government has been shut down since October 1 due to a blocked budget, according to TT.

US minister warns: Chaos in air traffic soon

If the shutdown continues next week, the US may be forced to close some of the American airspace. This is warned by Transport Secretary Sean Duffy, according to several media outlets.

- So if you Democrats continue for another week, you will see mass chaos, says the minister according to ABC News.

According to Duffy, there will then be extensive flight delays and cancellations because there are not enough air traffic controllers on duty.