Trump Claims His Administration Can Save Social Security Thanks to a Surprising Reason
While experts have warned that the Social Security Administration (SSA) will be depleted in less than a decade, Donald Trump says he's found a way to save the program.
Trump shared his findings during Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, where he credited JD Vance for discovering billions of dollars that he says will not only keep Social Security payments flowing, but will also help the administration balance the federal budget. Is this news too good to be true? Or has the Trump administration found a silver bullet to solve the government's financial woes? Keep reading to find out.
Trump Says Vance Found Enough Money to Fund Social Security
Experts have been sounding the alarm about the SSA's dwindling funds, but on May 27, 2026, Trump told his cabinet that Vance's anti-fraud task force uncovered enough fraud that they may be able to fund Social Security and balance the federal budget, according to the Washington Examiner.
Trump claimed that the task force had found "billions and billions and billions" worth of fraudulent activity across federal programs, including Social Security. "The numbers that we're finding out-we have great people in Social Security," he said in the meeting. "We're going to make our Social Security so strong, so good, that you'd never seen anything like it."
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The president went on to say they would "protect" Social Security. Vance spoke later in the meeting, crediting Trump's leadership for the task force's success.
"The fact that we have dedicated presidential leadership is really what's made this possible, because it does require - we've got great people around the table - but sometimes these agencies don't know how to work together at the lower level, and that's one of the things we've had to turn on and force with the fraud task force," Vance said.
Is Social Security Fraud That Big of a Problem
While the idea of stopping fraudsters to help fund the program so people don't have to start taking reduced payments sounds promising, experts warn that it's not that simple. For example, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute, says that Social Security payments have a 99 percent accuracy rate, meaning it's rare for incorrect payments to be sent out.
Additionally, the group says that the SSA has an intense system in place to prevent people from continuing to collect payments after their death, and that vital statistics agencies will report deaths through the Electronic Death Registration system within days of someone's passing.
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Lastly, the system has a fail-safe that prevents payments to people over the age of 115. Not that it gets used often, since the group notes that people over 100 years old account for roughly 0.1 percent of all Social Security beneficiaries.
While those hoping to see Social Security saved may have been excited to hear Trump's remarks, it's probably best to wait and see how much money is actually saved after the anti-fraud task force completes its investigation before we start celebrating.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 8:21 AM.