President of the United States Donald Trump is celebrating his 90th anniversary, defending the administration’s policies on the program and attacking his democratic rivals.
On Thursday, Trump signed the presidential declaration in his oval office, where he recognized the “monologic” importance of the social safety net program.
“I always recommend defending social security,” the declaration reads.
“To this day, social security is rooted in simple promises. Those who have given us careers to build our country have always had the support, stability and relief they deserve.”
But Trump’s second term as president is plagued by accusations that he undermined programs like Social Security in his pursuit of other agenda items, including federal restructuring.
What is Social Security?
Social Security in the United States withdraws payroll taxes to fund monthly payments to seniors, deceased workers’ spouses, and disabled people. For many recipients, payments are the primary source of income during retirement.
The program is considered to be widely popular. In 2024, the Pew Research Center discovered that 79% of Americans believe that social security should never be cut.
Additionally, four out of ten surveyed and sided with the view that social security should be expanded to include more people and more benefits.
However, the programme faces major hurdles in its long-term feasibility.
Last year, the Social Security Administration (SSA) published a report that found that insurance costs for elderly people, disability and survivors outweigh the program’s income.
The trust funds that fuel these programs are “predicted to dry up in 2033” if no action is taken to reverse the trend.
In an Oval Office appearance on Thursday, Trump tried to ease those concerns while swiping in the Democrats.
“You keep hearing that social security will disappear in six or seven years,” Trump said.
“And if Democrats get involved, it’s going to be with us for a long time, because we don’t know what they’re doing.”
He added that he will be “destroyed” under former President Joe Biden, his Democratic predecessor, and the frequent target of his attacks.
Criticism of Trump’s achievements
But Trump himself has faced criticism for weakening social security since returning to the White House for his second term in January.
Early on, Trump and his then-Ayron Musk planned to cut down the federal workforce and reduce spending, including targeting the Social Security Agency (SSA).
In February, the Social Security Administration said it would “reduce the scale of the bloated workforce and organizational structure,” reflecting Trump and Musk’s rhetoric.
The predicted layoffs and incentives for early retirement are designed to reduce Social Security staff from 57,000 to 50,000, a 12.3% reduction.
Under Trump, the government’s Department of Efficiency (DOGE) has also announced plans to ease social security phone services, which have retreated since facing public protests.
Additionally, Musk and Trump attacked Social Security’s reputation, with the former advisor telling podcast host Joe Rogan:
The two men even argued that Social Security is paying millions of long-time individuals, but critics point out that these claims don’t seem to be true.
According to the news magazine Wired, the COBOL programming system used by the Social Security Agency marks a date of birth and an incomplete entry set 150 years ago. However, these entries generally do not receive perks.
The inspector’s office overseeing the Social Security Administration has repeatedly reviewed these older entries. These entries were confirmed to be inactive.
“We acknowledge that almost none of the figures discussed in the report are currently receiving SSA payments,” the 2023 report said.
The Social Security Administration also shows that it will have to pay between $5.5 million and $9.7 million to update its programming, but the change has shown that it will provide “limited benefits” in the fight against fraud.
Still, Trump doubled claims that the deaths were receiving benefits on Thursday.
“There were 12.4 million names more than 120 years ago,” Trump said. “We had listed nearly 135,000 people who were over 160 and in some cases who were paid, so someone was getting paid for them.”
Questions after “One Big Beautiful Bill”
Critics have also questioned whether Trump’s push to cut taxes will have a long-term impact on Social Security.
In July, Trump’s signature law, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), solidified the 2017 tax cut. They also increased the tax credits for earners who rely on tips and Social Security benefits.
But groups like the Responsible Federal Budget Committee, a bipartisan think tank, estimate that one big beautiful bill law will shorten the timeline for Social Security bankruptcy.
“The law directs that once trust funds drain the reserves, payments will be limited to incoming revenue,” the committee said in late July.
“We estimate that the Social Security Retirement Programme will mean that benefits of 24% will be reduced in the second half of 2032 after the establishment of the OBBBA.”
Still, Trump has repeatedly committed to protecting Social Security from all cuts in profits. He repeated the pledge on Thursday’s appearance.
“American seniors, every day we’re going to fight for them. We’re going to make them richer, stronger and stronger in more different ways,” Trump said.
“But Social Security is what we think, we love it, we love what’s going on with it, and it’s going to be good for over 90 years.”
As of July, more than 69.9 million Americans had received Social Security benefits.
