Washington DC - President Donald Trump's bid to freeze trillions of dollars in federal funding was thrown into confusion Wednesday when the White House appeared to withdraw the controversial plan – then minutes later insisted that it had not.

Rafts of government aid programs and the health care system for millions of low-income Americans were up in the air after Trump ordered a halt to potentially trillions of dollars in grants, loans, and other aid late Monday.

The move – made in an order from White House's Office of Management and Budget – sparked instant alarm and confusion, as well as a flurry of lawsuits before a judge issued a temporary injunction.

On Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget issued a terse notification saying the freezing of aid order had been "rescinded."

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However, soon after, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the spending freezes remained in place – and only the memo from the budget office was rescinded.

"This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze," which remains in "full force," she said on X.

The White House has strongly defended the freeze as a blow against what Trump says is waste and "woke" federal spending programs, and a tool to make sure that every government office supports the Republican's right-wing political goals.

Democrats accuse Trump of constitutional overreach by seeking to stop spending already approved by Congress, which has authority over the US budget.

Vocal Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett pounced on the new bout of confusion, posting: "Incompetence on full display... It's day 9 for a fool who had the job for 4 years and still has NO CLUE of how government, the law, nor the constitution works."