'Amateur magician': DC insider explains the 2-part Trump 'trick' that threatens Social Security

02 April

Democrat Martin O'Malley, former commissioner for the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA), ex-Maryland governor and ex-Baltimore mayor, has a dire warning for American seniors: the Trump Administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are making such drastic cuts to SSA staff that an "interruption in benefits" is likely. A considerable amount of "knowledge and expertise," according to O'Malley, goes into making SSA function properly — and Trump, with DOGE's help, is putting much of that "knowledge and expertise" out of work.

But the Trump Administration/DOGE cuts aren't the only challenge the SSA is facing.

In an article published by Salon on April 2, former U.S. Treasury Department official Samarth Gupta describes another threat to Social Security: Trump's tax plan.

"President Trump is a master showman, but an amateur magician," Gupta argues. "Look at the trick he's trying to pull on Social Security. He warms up his audience with a grand promise: 'I will not cut one penny from Social Security.' Then, he riles them up: he'll even cut their taxes, by eliminating the tax Social Security beneficiaries pay on their benefits. But it's all a sleight of hand."

Gupta doesn't get into the Trump Administration/DOGE layoffs at the SSA in his article. The former Treasury Department official, instead, keeps his focus on Trump's tax policy — which, he warns, can only hurt Social Security in the end.

Trump's "trick," according to Gupta, "is done in two parts."

"The first part is what he wants you to pay attention to: the big pledge — not only to protect Social Security, but to make it even better," Gupta explains. "He won't cut your benefits; he'll cut your taxes. Because of how enticing this sounds, he's hoping it will be an adequate distraction — that while today's retirees are cheerleading for their newfound tax savings, none of us will notice Part 2. To finance his plan, President Trump will loosen the spigot out of the Social Security trust funds — exacerbating the ongoing drawdown of these government accounts that hold the money all of us pay into the program."

Gupta continues, "Because it's just a slow drip, he's counting on no one noticing. Just like a teenager taking a little bit out of his parents' liquor bottle every weekend, praying they can't tell the difference. It works until it doesn't. In about ten years' time, the Social Security trust funds will be bled dry."

Many aging Gen-Xers fear that they won't be able to retire comfortably, as a variety of factors have made it difficult for them to save enough money — from the high cost of living to recessions. The oldest Gen-Xers are now in their early sixties, and the generation behind them, Millennials, is even more worried.

Trump's tax cuts for the rich, according to Gupta, are a major threat to Social Security's wellbeing.

"When the next generation of retirees comes around," Gupta warns, "they'll find that not only did they miss out on the tax savings the president is promising today, but they won't even get the full benefits they've been promised their whole lives. That's because while President Trump had us rapt with his bold promises, he instructed congressional Republicans to mortgage future generations to pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts for America's wealthiest families."

Samarth Gupta's full article for Salon is available at this link.

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