The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has come under significant national scrutiny in the past few months after revelations of mass fraud and waste. In Minnesota, the Trump administration is taking action to punish retailers who facilitate and practice the fraud.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins celebrated, “Operation ‘Cold SNAP’ was a HUGE SUCCESS!!!” Agents from her department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) joined Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on April 16 to go after SNAP/EBT fraudsters at 20 different Twin Cities locations, according to a USDA press release.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have been working with their partners in law enforcement entities to identify retailers in Minnesota who do have federal authorization to accept SNAP benefits, but are fraudulently trafficking them. USDA Inspector General John Walk accused these individuals of “reprehensibly exploit[ing] the needy to enrich themselves.”
Democrats are trying to condition Americans to believe that everyone on food stamps is a starving single mother or Oliver Twist-like child who will literally die without being able to purchase unlimited soda and candy on someone else’s money. But in fact, 40% of food stamp recipients are obese, and top SNAP purchases include soft drinks, candy, and bag snacks. That is why the Trump administration is currently trying to pressure states into banning soda and junk food from their SNAP programs.
Guys check this out. YOUR taxpayer dollars are going to… feed people McDonalds.
McDonalds franchise locations in Grand Rapid, Michigan now accept EBT.
They started with a pilot program in just a few locations in 2021, and it’s now allowed in 26 different counties.
As a… pic.twitter.com/oGS91K7k5R
— Blue Lives Matter (@bluelivesmtr) April 12, 2026
Related: Is the U.S. Losing $500+ Billion Annually to Fraud?
This is absolutely ridiculous 😤
An American woman is literally brought to tears over new EBT rules that cut junk food from what benefits can buy.
Her solution?
Neighbors trading chicken for Little Debbie snack cakes and setting up their own barter system just to keep the… pic.twitter.com/evf2fOflzl
— Arkadalo ® (@Arkadalo) April 18, 2026
If you are wondering exactly what the fraud looks like in practice, the USDA explained:
SNAP trafficking is a crime that involves retailers exchanging SNAP benefits for cash or other ineligible items. Operation Cold SNAP reflects the federal government’s commitment to safeguarding taxpayer-funded nutrition assistance and ensuring SNAP benefits remain available to the individuals and families who rely on them.
Secretary Rollins proudly declared, “No more stealing from hungry children, needy families, and hardworking taxpayers. Inspector General John Walk and his team are putting fraudsters on notice. Steal from the taxpayer? Pay the price.”
The Biden administration and the Democrat politicians of many blue states deliberately overlooked or even encouraged food stamp fraud. The more wealth distribution there is, and the more people who are dependent on the government and feeling entitled, the happier Democrats are. Last year, a coalition of leftist states even sued the federal government to prevent release of their SNAP data. And just between 2023 and early 2025, taxpayers lost at least $600 million to food stamp theft.
Hence the USDA’s Operation Cold SNAP:
The whole-of-government effort combined analytical, law enforcement, investigative, administrative, and prosecutorial tools to deny retail stores the ability to profit from SNAP beneficiaries by defrauding the program or otherwise violating its requirements. In addition to executing criminal warrants, law enforcement agents simultaneously affected personal service on 20 separate retailers with administrative charging letters issued by FNS for SNAP trafficking and other program violations uncovered by the operation.
This is exactly what I voted for.
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