BEDMINSTER, New Jersey–President Donald Trump vowed to protect Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” during his press gaggle aboard Air Force One on Friday.
Trump’s comments came in response to a Breitbart News question asking for his response to critics of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” who fail to acknowledge how his tariff policies will cut deficits in the budget over the next decade. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Trump’s tariffs would cut federal deficits by $2.8 trillion over ten years.
“Well, we got tremendous reviews and CBO — basically, it’s a Democrat group, and we’re getting tremendous reviews on the bill,” Trump said. “We cut $1.6 trillion — not billion, trillion, out of the budget, and yet we haven’t affected anybody.”
Trump vowed to protect critical entitlement programs as well.
“We’re going to save and totally cherish Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The Democrats are going to destroy it, and they’ll destroy it. We’re going to save it and make it stronger than ever before. So Medicare, Medicaid — They [Democrats] just make statements. We’re not touching it, other than waste, fraud, and abuse,” he added.
Trump also spoke about a conversation he had with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who wants to remove Medicaid cuts from the House-passed bill to protect Trump supporters who go to hospitals in rural areas.
“We did speak about that. We’re really talking about waste, fraud, and abuse,” Trump said in the sky-set press gaggle.
“And Sen. [Josh] Hawley is a great senator, good guy, and I did speak to him,” Trump added. “And we want to make sure that doesn’t hurt anybody, you know, because it is about waste, fraud, and abuse — that’s the only thing, and everybody wants that.”
During his time in New Jersey, Trump is set to attend UFC 316 Saturday night in Newark, headlined by the Bantamweight bout between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley.
