Latest news with #First100Days
New York Times
30-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Maureen Dowd and Carlos Lozada on 100 Days of Trump's ‘Fake Reality'
In this episode of 'The Opinions,' the deputy Opinion editor Patrick Healy is joined by the columnists Maureen Dowd and Carlos Lozada to dissect the first 100 days of President Trump's second term and prepare for what's to come. Below is a transcript of an episode of 'The Opinions.' We recommend listening to it in its original form for the full effect. You can do so using the player above or on the NYT Audio app , Apple , Spotify , Amazon Music , YouTube , iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. The transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Patrick Healy: This is the First 100 Days, a weekly series examining President Trump's use of power and his drive to change America. On Tuesday we hit the milestone: President Trump has been in office 100 days. So what have we learned? He has used power chaotically — but for a purpose: to throw an entire country off balance, to gain maximum leverage while keeping friends and enemies alike on their back heel. He's ruled by executive order to an unprecedented degree, and he's trying to remake America in his image. He decides who matters and who is disposable. So tens of thousands of federal workers are gone. D.E.I. is gone. Transgender people are erased as a matter of government policy. Undocumented migrants are being rounded up, and deportations are also underway of people lawfully in the country, and even American citizens. The president is doing much of this in defiance of the courts and the Constitution. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Trump's deportations could hurt Social Security
President Donald Trump could cut billions from the Social Security trust fund without passing a single law. By reducing immigration to the United States and deporting people already here, the Trump administration could dramatically reduce the amount of money going into the earned benefits program over the next few years. That's because many noncitizens pay Social Security taxes even though they don't typically qualify for benefits, so they're essentially putting money into the pot without taking any out. A recent report showed exactly how much of a problem Trump's immigration policies could be for the earned benefits program. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive think tank, lower-than-expected immigration could lead to an increased revenue shortfall of 11.4% each year. Already, the Social Security trust fund is projected to be depleted by 2035, which would mean benefits would either have to be slashed to what can be paid by taxes coming in each year — about 75% of current benefits, according to the Social Security Administration — or taxes would have to be raised. Regular yearly shortfalls of money going into the trust fund would only speed up that date. Trump and his allies could argue that ramping up deportations — sometimes without providing due process — is worth the damage to Social Security, or even necessary, to address their concerns about other effects of immigration. But that's not what they have done. Instead, as I've noted previously, billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk has peddled false claims that many noncitizens are illegally getting Social Security benefits. The Trump administration went even further, moving thousands of migrants to the Social Security's "death master file" to make it harder for them to access credit cards, bank accounts and other financial services, according to a report in The New York Times. (The administration later renamed the list the 'ineligible master file.') Subscribe to Trump's First 100 Days newsletter for weekly updates on and expert insight into the key issues and figures defining his second term. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump is using his election denial playbook on Social Security
Donald Trump's administration has taken a sledgehammer to the Social Security system, and it's using the president's election denial playbook to do so along the way. As with his attempts to overturn his loss in 2020, Trump began his political attack on Social Security with baseless claims of widespread fraud by millions of people — even sharing similarly inaccurate stories about dead people and undocumented immigrants. He's now moving on to the next phase: attempting to create some kind of paper trail. As part of his election denial efforts, his lawyers assembled hundreds of affidavits from people who purportedly witnessed fraud. But those affidavits fell apart once they were presented to judges, who largely found them unsupported or simply not credible. This time, Trump is assigning federal prosecutors to look into Social Security fraud and directing an inspector general to investigate recipients over 100 years old with mismatched records under a memorandum signed at the White House on Tuesday. As with election denial, there's no evidence for the widespread fraud claims pushed by Trump and his billionaire adviser, Elon Musk. The most recent inspector general's audit found that over a five-year period ending in May 2018, an estimated $33.5 million in benefits were redirected to a different bank account, a typical form of Social Security fraud. That's a relatively small number in a system that pays out $1.5 trillion each year in benefits. Trump's claim that 'millions and millions of people over 100 years old' are receiving benefits has been thoroughly debunked. And the wild claims about immigrants undermining Social Security turn out to be the opposite of the truth, as immigrants help support Social Security because they pay into the system without qualifying for benefits. Even undocumented immigrants were estimated to have paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes in 2022, according to a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. In 2020, Trump also sought to have legitimate votes thrown out in court. This time, his administration reportedly put 6,300 names of immigrants who obtained Social Security numbers through a legal process onto the "death master file" — essentially legally declaring them dead — with the goal of making it hard for them to access banking services like credit cards and checking accounts, according to reports in The New York Times and other outlets. On election denial, Trump's goal was to overturn his loss. This time, his goal appears to be to make dramatic cuts to a popular benefits program that might otherwise be politically impossible. Subscribe to Trump's First 100 Days newsletter for weekly updates on and expert insight into the key issues and figures defining his second term. This article was originally published on
New York Times
17-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Bret Stephens on What Trump Gets Right, Wrong and Really, Really Wrong
On this First 100 Days episode of 'The Opinions,' the deputy Opinion editor, Patrick Healy, and the columnist Bret Stephens discuss the nuance of being a conservative critical of President Trump. Below is a transcript of an episode of 'The Opinions.' We recommend listening to it in its original form for the full effect. You can do so using the player above or on the NYT Audio App, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. The transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Patrick Healy: I'm Patrick Healy, deputy editor of New York Times Opinion, and this is The First 100 Days, a weekly series examining President Trump's use of power and his drive to change America. This week, I wanted to talk to my colleague the columnist Bret Stephens. Bret is a conservative who occupies this really interesting position: He's a Trump critic who thinks the administration is succeeding on some fronts, and he's an American who wants strong leadership in his country, but finds both political parties really lacking. So what's it like to agree with Trump on a bunch of issues, but also kind of hate him? I'm curious how Bret wrestles with that dichotomy and how he thinks Americans should see the next four years. Bret, thanks for joining me. Bret Stephens: It's such a pleasure to be here. Healy: Bret, I really love talking to you because you push me on ideas and you push readers and listeners, and you don't let anyone off the hook, yourself included. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sen. Deb Fischer offers up 'canned food' as alternate to USDA food bank cuts
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) seemed to defend the Trump administration's cuts to local food purchasing for schools and food banks, saying Thursday that 'canned food' and other non-perishable options can also be 'wholesome.' 'I think there's different avenues we can take on that to make sure that still meet the needs of people,' Fischer said at POLITICO Playbook's First 100 Days breakfast series. Fischer was responding to news earlier this week that USDA canceled two programs that gave schools and food banks money to purchase food from local farms, axing more than $1 billion in federal spending. The Republican senator added that she continues to back food banks and supports having 'fresh food available,' but 'sometimes we forget that' canned food is 'always an option as well.'
