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Donald Trump speaks at New York State Supreme Court in New York

Retirement Planning > Social Security

Trump Mulls a Tax Cut That Could Slash Social Security: Report

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Donald Trump is mulling a cut to the federal payroll tax, “a move that could lower the flow of money into the Social Security and Medicare trust funds,” Reuters reported.

The Republican presidential candidate has presented the idea to his advisors, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing two unnamed “people familiar with the discussions.”

Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, blasted the idea in a statement Thursday.

“Trump recently received pushback when he said that ‘there is a lot you can do’ to cut Social Security,” Altman said. “So he is dusting off the old Republican playbook and bringing back the strategy known informally as ‘Starve the Beast.’ In this case, Social Security is the beast.”

In 2020, then-President Trump issued an executive order allowing employers to temporarily defer payroll taxes.

“He was quite explicit that, if re-elected, he would convert that delay into a permanent cut,” Altman said.

Social Security, Altman continued, “can only pay benefits if it has sufficient dedicated revenue to pay its costs. That is why it doesn’t contribute even a penny to the deficit.”

If Trump succeeds “in slashing that dedicated revenue so that it is no longer sufficient to fully cover the cost, it will result in an automatic benefit reduction,” Altman said. “This would happen without any Republicans having to vote for the cuts, or Trump having to sign them into law.”

Other Tax Cuts

The standard deduction and the marginal income tax rate for middle-income earners are other potential tax-cut targets Trump has discussed, according to Reuters.

Economists who have Trump’s ear, including Steve Forbes, Arthur Laffer, and his former White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, are pressing him to consider a flat income tax of 17%, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

Whoever takes the White House will face a showdown over taxes, as key parts of Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul are set to expire at the end of 2025.


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