FACT CHECK: Trump Lies About Protecting Medicare & Social Security

At his Nevada rally today, Trump continued to lie about protecting Medicare and Social Security. The truth is, Trump has tried to cut billions of dollars from Medicare and Social Security, and both programs have weakened under his leadership.

 

LIE: “We will protect Medicare…”

 

FACT: Medicare weakened under Trump.

 

PolitiFact:“In their 2018 report, the Medicare Trustees forecast that fund would run out of money in 2026. A year earlier, they said it would last until 2029. On Trump’s watch, it lost three years of solvency.”

 

FACT: Trump sought a $554 billion cut to Medicare.

 

Washington Post: “As a candidate, Trump repeatedly said he would never cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Now he proposes cutting Medicare by $554 billion and Medicaid by around $250 billion over the next decade.”

 

LIE: “I’m going to protect your Social Security, and I have.”

 

FACT: Social Security weakened under Trump.

 

PolitiFact: “The Old Age and Survivors fund is the big one for retired people, with about $2.8 trillion. The Disability fund had $71 billion at the end of 2017. With costs rising faster than income, the larger fund is expected to run dry in 2034. A year earlier, the projection was for 2035. So that’s a loss of one year of solvency.”

 

FACT: Trump sought a $72.5 billion cut to Social Security disability insurance and supplemental security income.

 

Vox: “President Trump’s 2018 budget proposed $72.5 billion in cuts to SSDI and to Supplemental Security Income, another program for disabled people, over 10 years. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney called the program ‘very wasteful’ and bemoaned the fact that it ‘grew tremendously under President Obama.’”