Donald Trump on Social Security 2016 Republican incumbent President; 2000 Reform Primary Challenger for President

Never cut Social Security; payroll tax cut won't affect it

TRUMP: We'll never cut Social Security, and you can rely on that. We will guard it with everything we have.

Q: You have said you would like to "terminate the payroll tax" if you win reelection. Payroll taxes fund Social Security and Medicare. How would you finance these programs without payroll taxes?

TRUMP: Providing a payroll tax deferral poses no risk to the Social Security trust fund and puts more money in the pockets of hardworking Americans.

Improve SSI youth transition to self-sufficient work

Going "full-steam ahead" on limiting disability benefits

FactCheck: Yes, "privatization would be good for all of us"

"The solution to the Great Social Security crisis couldn't be more obvious: Allow every American to dedicate some portion of their payroll taxes to a personal Social Security account that they could own and invest in stocks and bonds. Federal guidelines would make sure that your money is diversified, that it is invested in sound mutual funds or bond funds, and not in emu ranches....Privatization would be good for all of us. Directing Social Security funds into personal accounts invested in real assets would swell national savings, pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into jobs and the economy." (Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p.198-199 & 203 , July 2000)

I will save Social Security with more jobs, less waste

I'll give up my Social Security; leave it to each person

A: I'm OK with it. I would be willing to say I will not get Social Security. As a policy, I would leave it up to the people. Don't forget they pay in, and maybe they do well, and maybe some people want it. But the fact is that there are people that truly don't need it, and there are many people that do need it very, very badly.

Cannot change Medicare or Soc.Sec. and still win elections

Social Security isn't an "entitlement"; it's honoring a deal

Social Security is here to stay. To be sure, we must reform it, root out the fraud, make it more efficient, and ensure that the program is solvent.

Same goes for Medicare. Again, people have lived up to their end of the bargain and paid into the program in good faith. Of course they believe they're "entitled" to receive the benefits they paid for--they are!

Disability Racket: $25B in fraudulent disability filings

Then there's the disability racket. Did you know that one out of every 20 people in America now claims disability? That adds up to $170 billion a year in disability checks. Between 2005 and 2009, it is estimated that $25 billion were eaten up in fraudulent Social Security Disability Insurance filings. On and on, scam after scam it goes; as always, taxpayers are the ones getting stiffed.

Pay off debt; put $3T interest savings into Trust Fund

[In addition to shoring up Social Security for the long term], I say it’s high time to separate Social Security from the general treasury. It is time to lock-box it and throw away the key.

The rich will scream. Only the top 1% of people-those with a net worth of $10 million or more-would be affected by my plan. The other 99% would get deep reductions in heir federal income taxes.

Let people invest their own retirement funds

Privatization would be good for all of us. Directing Social Security funds into personal accounts invested in real assets would swell national savings, pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into jobs and the economy. These investments would boost national investment, productivity, wages, and future economic growth.

No government investment of retirement funds