On the 90th anniversary of Social Security, President Donald Trump stood in the Oval Office, flanked by administration officials and Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, proclaiming his administration’s commitment to protecting what he called “one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever signed into law.” Yet, beneath the celebration and bold promises, a swirl of controversy, policy shifts, and uncertainty surrounds the future of the United States’ most popular social safety net program.
Trump’s remarks on August 15, 2025, were nothing if not emphatic. “Today, we celebrate that 90th anniversary of one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever signed into law, the Social Security Act of 1935. And we’re going to make it stronger, bigger and better,” he declared, as reported by CNN. He further pledged, “During the campaign, I made a (pledge) to our seniors that I would always protect Social Security, and under this administration, we’re keeping that promise and strengthening Social Security for generations to come.”
In the shadow of these promises, Trump’s administration rolled out a series of sweeping reforms. According to The Economic Times and White House officials, technological upgrades now allow 24/7 online account access, eliminating the restrictive 29-hour weekly downtime that plagued the system for years. In just the first two weeks, 280,000 additional customers accessed their accounts. Average wait times for phone calls were slashed from 30 minutes to just six, and field office wait times dropped by 23%. Disability claim backlogs fell by 26% compared to the previous year, with average processing times shrinking by five days and hearing wait times cut by 60 days.
“By massively improving the customer service experience through technological improvements, preventing illegal aliens from accessing benefits, and delivering no taxes on Social Security through the One Big Beautiful Bill — President Trump has Made Social Security Great Again,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement, as cited by The Economic Times.
But the story isn’t quite as simple as the administration’s narrative suggests. Social Security advocates, agency workers, and independent analysts have raised red flags about the program’s long-term health and the real-world impact of Trump’s policies. For starters, the Social Security Administration (SSA) lost about 20% of its staff in 2025, including senior executives with deep institutional knowledge, as reported by Axios and The Economic Times. Field offices—the “front door” for millions seeking help—faced a staffing crisis, with workers struggling under increased pressure and longer lines, despite official claims of improved service.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, responding to mounting concerns, requested an audit of SSA customer service efforts after the agency shed roughly 7,000 employees and introduced a new artificial intelligence tool on its national 800 number, CNN reported. The agency’s own statistics revealed that less than half of calls (47.1%) were answered within two hours, and recent changes to identity verification processes sparked pushback from advocacy groups like AARP, prompting the SSA to amend its proposals.
One of Trump’s signature achievements—the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill”—became law earlier in 2025, eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits for most seniors, at least according to administration statements. Trump boasted, “I allowed no tax on Social Security for our seniors.” However, a closer look, as detailed by CNN and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, shows that the law provided an additional $6,000 deduction on federal income taxes for certain seniors between 2025 and 2028, with joint filers receiving double. But this benefit will reach less than half of older Americans, primarily those earning between $80,000 and $130,000. For them, the average tax reduction is about $1,100, or roughly 1% of after-tax income.
Meanwhile, the program’s financial foundation appears shakier than ever. The Social Security trustees’ latest annual report projects that, unless Congress acts, the trust funds supporting retirement and disability payments will be depleted by 2034. At that point, payroll tax revenue and other income would cover only 81% of scheduled benefits. And, as the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget warned, Trump’s new tax law could accelerate the insolvency date by a year or two—potentially as soon as late 2032.
This looming shortfall is no secret. The Social Security Administration’s 2024 report, cited by Al Jazeera, found that costs for old-age, disability, and survivors insurance already outstrip the program’s income, projecting trust fund depletion by 2033 if no corrective action is taken. The bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget explained, “The law dictates that when the trust funds deplete their reserves, payments are limited to incoming revenues. For the Social Security retirement program, we estimate that means a 24 percent benefit cut in late 2032, after the enactment of OBBBA.”
Trump, for his part, has sought to lay blame for Social Security’s woes squarely at the feet of Democrats. “You keep hearing stories that in six years, seven years, Social Security will be gone, and it will be if the Democrats ever get involved, because they don’t know what they’re doing, but it’s going to be around a long time with us,” he said Thursday, as quoted by The Economic Times. He also claimed, “Under Biden, Social Security went down like nobody’s ever seen.”
Yet, critics argue that Trump’s own actions have contributed to the program’s vulnerability. Early in his second term, Trump and then-adviser Elon Musk announced plans to cut the federal workforce, including a 12.3% reduction at the SSA. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) proposed paring back phone services, though it reversed course after public backlash. Musk, meanwhile, called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” on a podcast, and both he and Trump made unsubstantiated claims about payments being made to millions of deceased individuals—a myth debunked by the Office of the Inspector General, which found that almost none of the flagged entries actually received payments.
Despite these controversies, Social Security remains overwhelmingly popular. A 2024 Pew Research Center survey cited by Al Jazeera found that 79% of Americans oppose any cuts to the program, with four in ten supporting its expansion. More than 69.9 million Americans received Social Security benefits as of July 2025, relying on it as a primary income source in retirement.
As the dust settles on the 90th anniversary celebrations, one thing is clear: Social Security’s future hangs in the balance. Trump’s reforms have brought both improvements and new risks, while the program’s underlying fiscal challenges remain unresolved. Without bipartisan action, the threat of benefit cuts looms large for the millions who depend on this vital safety net.
