Donald Trump seemed to overlook a crucial detail of his “big, beautiful bill” during a press conference in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Trump asserted that his flagship economic policy, set to add $3.4 trillion to the national debt, abolished a tax on Social Security payments given to the nation’s pensioners who are drawing on them – however, no such provision exists in the bill.
“Last month, I signed one big, beautiful bill and allowed no tax on Social Security for our great seniors. So, how’s that? Not bad, right?” the president addressed a group of reporters who had assembled to watch him sign a proclamation honouring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act.
“No tax on Social Security for our seniors, and to protect our benefits, we’ve already kicked nearly 275,000 illegal aliens off of the Social Security system,” he continued, boasting about his alleged successes with his immigration policies.
“These are people – many of them have already left the country,” he said, but didn’t clarify whether they had departed voluntarily or were expelled as part of his mass deportation operation, reports The Mirror US.
Trump claims he improved Social Security despite slashing staff.
Trump asserted at a press conference prior to signing the proclamation that he was enhancing Social Security, a cause he has always championed – despite previous attempts to undermine it, including earlier this year when the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) made significant staff cuts.
Unions and advocacy groups, worried about the sharing of sensitive information, have taken legal action. This has plunged the agency into turmoil.
Social Security provides benefits to 69 million people every month, serving as a crucial income source for older Americans, particularly those over 65.
However, officials from the Trump administration, including the president himself, have falsely alleged that millions of deceased individuals were receiving benefits from the agency, with former top adviser turned adversary Elon Musk labelling the programme a potential “Ponzi scheme.”
The Social Security Act’s History
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law back in 1935, during the peak of the Great Depression.
The legislation aimed to establish a federal safety net to support unemployed, ill, disabled and elderly Americans and to alleviate the financial burden of death.
Roosevelt viewed the act as a means to provide the U.S. with “an economic structure of vastly greater soundness.”
In his proclamation, Trump hailed the act as a “monumental legislative achievement.”
