CNN
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Former President Donald Trump on Monday signaled he was open to cuts to Social Security and Medicare, after opposing access to the entitlement programs and attacking his rivals in the Republican presidential primary on the issue.
In an interview with CNBC, President Trump was asked whether he had changed his views on how entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid should be handled to address the national debt.
“There's a lot that can be done when it comes to curtailing rights and even the theft and mismanagement of rights,” Trump said on CNBC's “Squawk Box.”
He added: “There's a huge amount of things that can be done and a lot of things that can be done.”
After the interview, President Joe Biden responded to a clip made by the Trump campaign of excerpts of Trump's comments, saying, “I don't monitor it.”
Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt later told CNN that the president was “clearly talking about reducing waste, not rights.”
“President Trump made good on his promise to protect Social Security and Medicare in his first term,” Levitt said. “President Trump will continue to strongly protect Social Security and Medicare in his second term.” candidate.'' Joe Biden is in charge of Social Security and Medicare. ”
“By unlocking America's energy, cutting job-killing regulations, and adopting pro-growth America-first tax and trade policies, President Trump will rapidly rebuild the largest economy in history and ensure that Social Security and Medicare remain in the future.” It will put us on a stronger footing for generations to come,” Levitt said.
When Trump was president, his administration's budget proposals included spending cuts to Social Security, primarily for disability benefits, and Medicare, primarily by cutting provider payments. President Trump also indicated in a 2020 interview with CNBC that he was open to cutting federal entitlements to reduce the federal deficit.
However, Trump has repeatedly pledged during the campaign to “always protect Medicare and Social Security,” and his campaign website states, “Under no circumstances will Republicans vote to cut Medicare by a penny.” A video was also posted saying, “You shouldn't do this.” Or Social Security. ”
“We don't need to mess with Social Security or Medicare,” President Trump said at a campaign rally in Michigan last month.
President Trump also attacked former Republican rival Nikki Haley on the campaign trail over her support for reforming these entitlement programs. Ms. Haley called for raising the age at which today's young workers qualify for Social Security retirement benefits and limiting benefits for wealthy Americans. Trump has also regularly criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his past support for privatizing Social Security and raising the retirement age, but the governor has also criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his past support for privatizing Social Security and raising the retirement age. I was in a position where I kept my distance.
The Biden administration has sought to contrast the president's support for Social Security and Medicare with Republican proposals to address the programs' funding shortfalls. Biden said in his State of the Union address last week that he would stop anyone who tried to cut the system or raise the retirement age.
Without changes, Social Security's general trust fund will be depleted in 2034, at which point the program's ongoing tax revenues will cover unpaid benefits, according to the latest report from the Social Security Trustees Board. This means that only 80% of the cost will be covered.
Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, known as Medicare Part A, will not be able to pay all scheduled benefits until 2031, according to the Medicare Administrative Board's latest annual report. At that point, Medicare, which covers about 67 million elderly and disabled people, will only be able to cover 89% of total scheduled benefits.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, two factors driving the projected increase in the budget deficit are an aging population and increased federal health spending, which will require increased spending on Social Security and Medicare.
President Trump is willing to reduce the number of people enrolled in Medicaid, which provides health insurance to low-income Americans, and reduce federal funding for the program. The administration approved requests from multiple states to require certain enrollees to work, resulting in thousands of people losing insurance in Arkansas, the only state to do so briefly before being blocked in federal court. It became.
And as part of their 2017 effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Republicans have increased the amount of future federal aid for Medicaid by sending a fixed amount to states each year and reducing the rate at which that funding increases. I wanted to reduce the Additionally, they wanted to abandon the Obamacare program that expands Medicaid coverage to low-income adults.
Trump also said in an interview with CNBC on Monday that it was a “difficult decision” to decide whether the U.S. should ban TikTok, arguing that shutting down the app would benefit Facebook.
“What I don't like is that Facebook can be big without TikTok. I think Facebook, along with much of the media, is the enemy of the people,” Trump said. He has shown his attitude,” he added. That's bad for our country, especially when it comes to elections. ”
President Trump said he believes TikTok poses a national security threat to the United States, but added, “Facebook and many other companies have similar problems,'' adding, “TikTok loves TikTok.'' There are a lot of people,” he said.
President Trump said, “TikTok has a lot of good things and a lot of bad things.''
His comments came days after a House committee unanimously passed a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok on all electronic devices. The measure, approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, would ban TikTok from U.S. app stores unless the social media platform quickly separates from its Chinese-linked parent company ByteDance. TikTok is one of the most popular social media apps in the world, used by approximately 170 million Americans.
Trump supported calls to ban the app when he was president, but has since appeared to backtrack on that stance. President Trump was asked by CNBC about the connection between his changing position on TikTok and his recent meeting with Jeff Yass, a top Republican donor and a major investor in TikTok.
President Trump said he and Yas had not discussed TikTok, saying they only met for “a few minutes” and that Yas “never mentioned TikTok.”
During his presidency, Trump said he wanted Congress to decide whether to ban TikTok.
“We were at the point where we could have done it if we wanted to,” Trump said. “I said it was a difficult decision, so you guys should make it.”
Trump also said in an interview Monday that imposing tariffs “gives us the power to deal with other countries,” adding, “I'm a big believer in tariffs.”
“Tariffs are very powerful in terms of stopping wars because they don't want tariffs. And frankly, I can, I've had them sing, and I've had other countries sing with the threat of tariffs. And if you don't have tariffs, we don't have anything to do with it,” President Trump said.
President Trump said last month that if he returns to office, he would consider imposing tariffs of more than 60% on all imports from China.
As president, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods in June 2018. Beijing responded with its own tariffs, and the spiral continued until the two countries reached an agreement in 2020. The Biden administration has largely maintained President Trump's policies. Era tariffs have been introduced.
