WASHINGTON AP - The children's savings program included in President Donald Trump's tax break-and-spending cut law "is a back door for privatizing Social Security," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday.
Bessent's remark, which he made at a forum hosted by Breitbart News, was striking after Trump's repeated promises that he would not cut Social Security. Democrats quickly seized on the comment as a sign the GOP wants to revive a dormant but unpopular push to privatize the long-running retirement program.
"Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just said the quiet part out loud: The administration is scheming to privatize Social Security," Tim Hogan, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement.
The White House did not immediately respond to a message about Bessent's remarks.
The GOP's "big, beautiful bill," as the law is called, created a new children's savings program, Trump Accounts, which can be created for babies born in the U.S. and come with a potential 1,000 deposit from the Treasury.