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Donald Trump will issue a presidential proclamation Thursday honoring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act, which will tout his administration’s achievements in improving the program, including legislative provisions that will help the vast majority of seniors pay “zero tax” on their social security benefits.
The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935, during the Great Depression. The bill was aimed at creating a federal safety net to help Americans with unemployment, illness, disability, death and old-age.
The president’s Thursday proclamation, obtained and reviewed in advance by Fox News Digital, proclaimed the Act as “a monumental legislative achievement.”
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“To this day, Social Security is rooted in a simple promise: those who gave their careers to building our Nation will always have the support, stability, and relief they deserve,” the proclamation states. “Thanks to my Administration’s efforts, Social Security now stands stronger and more resilient than ever before.”
During Trump’s second term, Democrats have slammed his approach to helping improve the program, arguing cuts to the Social Security Administration’s workforce and provisions in the Republican’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act will negatively impact the critical program. However, the administration is fighting back at those notions, pointing to technological improvements, lower customer service wait times, and disability claim backlogs that have been cleared.
“While Democrats flail and peddle lies about Social Security, President Trump is demonstrating his unbreakable commitment to protecting and strengthening this vital program for the nearly 72 million Americans who benefit from it,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said.
“By massively improving the customer service experience through technological improvements, preventing illegal aliens from accessing benefits, and delivering no taxes on Social Security through the One Big Beautiful Bill – President Trump has Made Social Security Great Again.”
Trump’s critics have suggested he is damaging the program, but according to the administration, things have drastically improved. A source in the administration told Fox News Digital that the administration completed over 3.1 million payments ahead of schedule thus far, totaling $17 billion, to eligible beneficiaries.
Additionally, the wait time for social security’s service delivery has been dramatically reduced under Trump, with the average telephone response time reduced from 30-minutes last year, to six minutes as it stands currently. That amounts to an 80% reduction in wait times.
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Meanwhile, the president touts in his proclamation that provisions in the Republican spending package, signed into law last month, will allow “the vast majority of seniors who receive social security” to pay absolutely nothing in taxes on their benefits.
“The largest tax break for seniors in the history of our country,” as the president described it in his proclamation.
Trump also expressed that his administration is actively working to root out fraud, waste and abuse in the system, including the longstanding issue of improper and fraudulent payments to deceased individuals.
“On this 90th Anniversary of the Social Security Act, we recognize the countless contributions of every American senior who has invested their time, talent, and resources into our Nation’s future,” Trump writes in his proclamation.
“On this momentous milestone, we recommit to strengthening our retirement system, protecting programs like Social Security and Medicare against fraud and abuse, and ensuring that every future generation of American citizens has the income security they need and earned.”
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