US President Joe Biden Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Reuters
Donald Trump’s return to the public sphere was marked by an attack on his main political opponent, President Joe Biden. Speaking at a conference in Chicago on Social Security (the US pension system), Trump accused the current administration of “massive destruction” in less than 100 days in office.
“It all happened so fast, it’s amazing,” Trump said, accompanying his almost half-hour speech with jokes and sharp rebukes.
In response, President Joe Biden, who turns 82 this year, accused Republicans of undermining Social Security, an institution that serves more than 68 million Americans. According to him, Trump’s team is cutting civil servants, which threatens the reliability of the social security system.
“They are laying off 7,000 employees, including the most experienced ones. Why? To give the savings to billionaires in the form of tax breaks,” Biden was outraged.
The Trump administration’s appointment of an interim head of the pension agency, a so-called “fraud expert”, who, according to Trump, should reduce costs by identifying fraud, particularly among Americans over 100 years old, was particularly criticised. However, no confirmation was provided.
According to some sources, Elon Musk is also involved in this process, and is likely to work on reforming public spending on pensions. Such initiatives are criticised by democrats, who call them “an attack on the foundation of trust between the state and the people”.
“Social security is more than pensions. It is a basic promise of a nation to its citizens,” Biden said.
As the US presidential election approaches, social policy is becoming a hotly debated topic. Democrats are trying to protect government programmes, while Republicans are pushing for austerity and a rethinking of the role of the state.
