​This is the biggest Social Security challenge of Trump’s new term: Can he solve it? 

19/01/2025
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07:55
CSTWhen Donald Trump takes over in the White House from Monday, January 20, he must fix Social Security before the program, which services 67 million Americans across the United States, goes bankrupt.The Social Security Administration spends around $1.4 trillion per year in benefits to help low-income households, or people unable to work as much as the typically healthy adult can manage.Whilst it seemed as though the support network would be there forever, it is a finite resource and now the United States government has to begin thinking about what happens when the money runs out – and it is running out.Current projections have the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) trust funds to expire by 2035. This means that only 83% of people will receive their benefits, and it will fall to 73% by 2098, because the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes will continue financial the program.Now with four years in the Oval Office until 2029, and then the economic lag into the next president’s term too, whatever Trump decides to do in his second and final term could determine whether Social Security runs out.Back in December 2023 as he prepared his campaign charge against Joe Biden and the Democrats, the 78-year-old Trump vowed he won’t touch Social Security when it comes to making cuts. He insisted there is more unfound money in the United States than needing to go after the pockets of seniors, for example, in natural oil and gas reserves. This was viewed as his solution to the problems the program is facing. However, he never revealed any plans on how he plans to put it into effect, vaguely talking about how Republicans will “restore economic stability” and “ensure the long-term sustainability” of Social Security.Worryingly, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) investigated how much money could be in the natural gas reserves and found it would cover not even four percent of the amount of money lost.The CRFB also determined if Trump goes ahead with his plans to eliminate federal taxes on retirement benefits, overtime and tips then Social Security’s time on the clock will fall from 2035 to 2031.The billionaire’s plans to put tariffs on foreign imports will also cause inflation to spike according to some, meaning the SSA will have to pay out more Social Security in line with the Cost of Living Adjustments and thus will deplete the money pool even further.