Donald Trump’s billionaire-first budget is the largest cut to health care in history — all to give massive tax handouts to the ultra-rich — and yesterday, his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted that the “Trump Accounts” included in the bill will be how they privatize Social Security. 

Here’s what people are saying about Bessent confirming the Trump administration’s plan to gut Social Security:

Print: 

Associated Press: Bessent says new Trump child savings accounts are ‘back door for privatizing Social Security’

New York Times: Treasury Secretary Says Trump Accounts Could Pave Way to Privatizing Social Security

Politico: Bessent hails new ‘Trump accounts’ as ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security’

CNN: Treasury secretary calls new Trump accounts ‘a backdoor’ way to privatize Social Security

Daily Beast: Bessent Brags: We’ve Got a ‘Backdoor’ to Privatize Social Security

The Independent: Trump’s baby savings accounts are just a ‘back door to privatizing Social Security,’ treasury secretary admits

Washington Post: Trump’s newborn savings accounts a ‘back door for privatizing Social Security,’ Bessent says

USA Today: Trump accounts are a ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security,’ Treasury secretary says

Bloomberg: Democrats Assail Bessent on ‘Privatizing’ Social Security Remark

Reuters: Bessent calls Trump baby accounts ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security’

Newsweek: Trump Accounts ‘Backdoor Way’ to Privatize Social Security: Scott Bessent

HuffPost: Scott Bessent Calls New Tax Policy ‘Backdoor For Privatizing Social Security’

Washington Examiner: Bessent says new ‘Trump accounts’ are ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security’

The New Republic: Treasury Secretary Admits He’s Never Seen Trade Deal Trump Is Hyping

On the Airwaves:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, MSNBC: “The secretary is just reiterating what Republicans have been saying for years and years and years and years. They want to privatize Social Security. They want their buddies on Wall Street to be able to get their hands on your retirement, and they want to take away the retirement that Americans earn out of their paychecks every single week, every single paycheck. And look, it’s just another Trump scam. As you pointed out, this initial boost is only for three years, and basically it’s only for families that can afford to put $5,000 into a kid’s account every year. The bottom line: I just say this every chance I get about social security. Social security is not charity. Social security is something people earn by making their contributions, and it becomes a solemn contract between the worker, the person who paid in, and the government. And we have to continue to honor that.”

Rep. Ritchie Torres, MSNBC: “Medicaid and Social Security are the most popular programs in America. It transcends partisanship. … [The Democratic Party has] been united in our resistance to Donald Trump, and we’ve been unified in our opposition to the Republican reconciliation bill because it represents a frontal assault on the social safety net, on Medicaid.”

Jen Psaki, MSNBC: “I don’t know if you practiced that line, if somebody wrote him that line, but he just said it’s a backdoor for privatizing social security, which sounds like what someone sounds like when they say the quiet part out loud.”

NY Democratic Party Executive Committee Chair Christine Quinn, CNN: “Those are deadly words. Those are words that are going to send fear into the heart of everyone who is on Social Security, or everyone who is going to be on Social Security, which is just about everyone. And the backdoor phrasing is just bizarre, right? You’re kind of saying, ‘this is what we’ve been thinking for a long time, and we can’t do it aggressively and plainly. We’re going to do it this way.’ Talk about midterms. Forget about it.”

Frank Holland, MSNBC: “Entitlement programs are obviously a hot button when it comes to politics and when you talk about reducing them or changing them in any significant way, I think that’s going to raise a lot of eyebrows not only in D.C., but of course on main street.”

On Social:

DNC Chair Ken Martin on X: Trump’s Treasury Secretary said the quiet part out loud: They’re going after Social Security.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján on X: President Trump’s Treasury Secretary is saying the quiet part out loud:

“In a way, it is a backdoor for privatizing Social Security.” – Scott Bessent

That means gutting the promise our seniors earned and dismantling Social Security as we know it.

Sen. Jack Reed on X: Trump Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent said the quiet part out loud: Trump-Republicans want to privatize Social Security, turning it from a dependable safety net to a risky profit center for moneyed special interests at the expense of everyday Americans.

Rep. Katherine Clark on X: Well, Republicans said the quiet part out loud:  

They want to “privatize Social Security.”

Your money. Your benefits. Sold to the highest bidder.

So much for standing with seniors.

Rep. Don Beyer on X: Secretary Bessent confirms what we have been saying all along: The Trump Administration wants to eliminate and privatize Social Security.

DNC Secretary Jason Rae on X: Scott Bessent just said the quiet part out loud: the administration is scheming to privatize Social Security.

Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to protect these hard-earned benefits

Rep John Larson on X: Secretary Bessent said it loud and clear. Trump and ‘DOGE’ are out to privatize Social Security.

Why? So their billionaire buddies on Wall Street can get even richer.

I’ll never back down from the fight to defend your EARNED BENEFITS!