The White House on Tuesday issued a statement clarifying that the Trump administration is "fully complying" with a recent court order to use emergency funds to keep Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from lapsing during the ongoing government shutdown.

A federal judge last week ruled that the Trump administration must distribute emergency funds to cover SNAP benefits "as soon as possible" to prevent those benefits from lapsing in November.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that SNAP benefits "will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before."

The post prompted speculation that the administration was planning to defy the court's order, which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied in a press briefing later Tuesday.

When asked about Trump's social media post, Leavitt said he was talking about "future SNAP payments" and not responding to the court's ruling.

"He does not want to have to keep tapping into an emergency fund and depleting it in the case of a catastrophe in this country," she said. 

"He wants to have those funds preserved, as they should be," Leavitt added.

The press secretary said that the administration is "fully complying" with the order and is in the process of getting partial payments "out the door as much as we can and as quickly as we can."

"The recipients of these SNAP benefits need to understand it's going to take some time to receive this money because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position," she said.

"The Department of Agriculture — as for the latest SNAP payment and the judge's order — put out guidance to states today on how to get that money to the recipients of SNAP, but it's going to take some time."