Treasury Sec admits Trump 'investment' accounts created by republicans are "a backdoor for privatizing Social Security"

Last edited Wed Jul 30, 2025, 06:33 PM - Edit history (1)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday likened the Trump accounts created by Republicans’ massive new domestic policy law to “a backdoor for privatizing Social Security.” Democrats are already launching political attacks.

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.

“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.”

“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.”

“Republicans’ ultimate goal is to privatize Social Security, and there isn’t a backdoor they won’t try to make Wall Street’s dream a reality,” Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal said in a statement. “For everyone else though, it’s yet another warning sign that they cannot be trusted to safeguard the program millions rely on and have paid into over a lifetime of work.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/treasury-secretary-calls-new-trump-accounts-a-backdoor-way-to-privatize-social-security/ar-AA1JBEbk