No, Donald Trump does not currently support cutting Social Security

Vice President Kamala Harris has hit the campaign trail, holding rallies across the country as the days count down to the 2024 presidential election.

Many VERIFY readers have been asking about one of the claims Harris made repeatedly during her speeches about the agenda her opponent, former president Donald Trump, would pursue if he wins.

“Just look at his Project 2025 agenda. I take it you’ve seen it,” Harris said at a rally in July. “Project 2025 is a plan to weaken the middle class, be clear. And Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security.”

Harris’ newly announced running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, made a similar claim in his first speech with the campaign.

“He’ll gut Social Security,” Walz said.

THE QUESTION

Does Donald Trump currently support cutting Social Security?

THE SOURCES

• Agenda47, the official platform of Trump’s 2024 campaign
• Republican Party Platform
• Mandate for Leadership, text of Project 2025
• CNBC interview with Donald Trump
• Post by Donald Trump on TruthSocial

THE ANSWER

No, Donald Trump does not currently support cutting Social Security.

WHAT WE FOUND

The claim Harris made in her July rally tied Trump to Project 2025, which is a proposal to enact hundreds of conservative policies if Republicans take back the White House. But even though those proposals were largely authored by people who worked in the Trump administration, the project is not directly connected to Trump and he’s repeatedly disavowed it in recent months.

Furthermore, Project 2025 does not propose cutting or making any changes to Social Security. Social Security is never directly addressed anywhere in the 922-page document that serves as the basis for Project 2025, called Mandate for Leadership.

Trump also has his own policy plan, called Agenda47. This plan does mention Social Security. It says, “Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from… Social Security.”

The official Republican Party Platform adopted at the Republican National Convention contains similar language. It calls for the GOP to “fight for and protect Social Security… with no cuts, including no changes to the retirement age.”

Trump has also talked about the issue on social media. One post on TruthSocial began by saying, “We are going to shore up Social Security, making it much stronger, but with no cuts.”

So where did the claims come from? The Harris campaign in the past has pointed to an interview Trump did earlier this year with CNBC, during which he said "there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting."

But Trump quickly walked back that statement, saying in a later interview with Breitbart that he meant cutting back on fraud.

Trump has proposed eliminating any income taxes on Social Security benefits. Since some of those taxes go to the Social Security trust fund, some experts say Trump’s proposal would speed up the impending funding challenges for the program.