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SNAP benefits, White House ballroom construction & Robert Irwin

SNAP benefits, White House ballroom construction & Robert Irwin

Plus: Image of goose and bald eagle in same nest is for the birds

Izz LaMagdeleine
October 23, 2025

THURSDAY EDITION

Snopes Debunker

An image shows a graphic that says SNAP on a green grocery bag holding bread, apple, milk, eggs and other groceries. Green text to the right says Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The first letters of each word are bloded. In the background, you can see $10 bills faintly.

Will SNAP benefits be issued in November? What we know

As the U.S. government shutdown stretched into late October, social media users warned of potential disruptions to the federal government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food benefits to millions of low-income Americans. On average, SNAP provides $188 per month, or about $6 per day, in benefits to help seniors, people with disabilities and families purchase household food staples.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in an Oct. 10 letter to state agencies that if the shutdown continued, there would be "insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits" for approximately 42 million Americans who rely on the program. In the days that followed, multiple U.S. states issued alerts to SNAP recipients, warning that they may not receive their benefits in November if the shutdown was not resolved. Snopes reporter Megan Loe has the details.

A photo shows construction equipment tearing into a building that has already been partially demolished.

Trump said new White House ballroom construction wouldn't 'interfere with the current building'

Trump's quote from July spread online as partial demolition began on the White House's East Wing in October.

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Snopes has been busy fact-checking political claims, including President Donald Trump’s new administration. But we look into claims on every topic, not just politics. For instance, one of our favorite fact checks that published last weekend was whether Robert Irwin dropped out of “Dancing with the Stars” on Pride Night, featured later in this newsletter. We need your help to keep doing this far-ranging work. By building our membership, we will be able to continue cutting straight to the facts on any subject our readers are interested in. We appreciate any support you can give.

A photo appears to show a large crowd. A smaller insert image shows a much smaller crowd.

'No Kings' rally photos were 'confirmed' to be AI-created?

A meme shared in October alleged someone "confirmed" the AI origins of the photos, adding, "There were about 800 people in Boston, not 100,000."

Four people are shown left to right. Three are men, while the on the far right is a woman. The man in the center (wearing a blue flannel) has his arm around the woman. The other two men appear to be wearing suits.

Key members of Young Republicans group chat weren't 'college kids'

A Politico investigation revealed text messages joking about slavery, Hitler, rape and more.

A white man is sitting down wearing a shirt that says AUSTRALIA ZOO. In the background, a pride flag is shown, which has colors of the rainbow on it next to pink, white and blue stripes to the right.

Sashay away from claim Robert Irwin dropped out of 'Dancing with the Stars' on Pride Night

The claim appeared on a Facebook page that made conflicting claims about Irwin's stance on LGBTQ+ issues.

Staff Pick

A nest shows a goose next to a bald eagle. Both birds appear to be sitting on eggs.

Image of goose and bald eagle in same nest is for the birds

In September, an image spread online allegedly showing a bald eagle and a goose sitting together in a nest protecting their eggs. Snopes readers emailed us to ask whether the photo was real.

Though there are examples of geese that occasionally nest in trees, it would likely have attracted attention from scientists, if true, given how reportedly rare such a multi-species nest would be. Reporter Jack Izzo broke down other signs the story was suspicious.