. . .

Bessent was discussing the Trump accounts at a Breitbart policy panel. The federal government will contribute $1,000 into these new tax-deferred investment accounts for US citizen children born between 2025 and 2028, while parents and others can contribute up to $5,000 annually. The funds are intended to be used for higher education, buying a home or starting a small business.

The accounts can also be used to help Americans better understand investing and serve as a way to save for retirement, Bessent said. Then he threw out a comment that had Democrats immediately up in arms.

“In a way, it is a backdoor for privatizing Social Security,” he said. “Social Security is a defined benefit plan paid out. To the extent that if, all of a sudden, these accounts grow and you have in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for your retirement, then that’s a game changer, too.”

Democrats have long accused Republicans of wanting to privatize Social Security — a topic that sparks intense reactions from Americans who are suspicious of plans to harm the program after they’ve paid into it for years — and have resurfaced the issue during President Donald Trump’s second term.

“Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just said the quiet part out loud: The administration is scheming to privatize Social Security,” Tim Hogan, the Democratic National Committee’s senior adviser for messaging, mobilization and strategy, said in a statement. “Trump is now coming after American seniors with a ‘backdoor’ scam to take away the benefits they earned.”