Bessent hails new 'Trump accounts' as 'backdoor way to privatize Social Security'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Politico

07/30/2025 02:48 PM EDT


Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday framed the president’s new “Trump accounts” as a transformative tool for long-term wealth building and a “backdoor for privatizing Social Security.” Bessent said the new tax-deferred investment accounts, which were created by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax law earlier this month, could be a way to boost financial literacy and young voters’ engagement in the economy.

“Why are we on the verge of Caracas on the Hudson in New York?” Bessent asked an audience at a Brietbart event in Washington, referencing the rise of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s mayoral race. “Why is this guy getting traction? Because young people are disillusioned with the system.” Trump accounts, Bessent said, would make “everyone a shareholder” in the success of the economy. “People who are part of the system do not want to bring down the system,” Bessent said.

The accounts, originally named MAGA accounts, allow parents to contribute up to $5,000 each year on behalf of their children. Contributions can also come from employers and charitable organizations. The funds must be invested in portfolios tied to U.S. stock indexes and are structured similarly to individual retirement accounts, with penalty-free withdrawals permitted after age 59 and a half or earlier for college expenses or a first home purchase.

Trump’s law also provides a universal contribution from the government of $1,000 for each baby born during 2025 through 2028, regardless of their family income. “In a way, it is a backdoor for privatizing Social Security,” Bessent said at the Breitbart event.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/30/bessent-trump-accounts-backdoor-privatize-social-security-00484859

[FalloutShelter]

1. Fuck that shit.

Cut the crap.
Raise the cap.
Period.
Easy.

[PSPS]

2. They always leave out the "don't forget your wallets, suckers!" part

[ToxMarz]

3. Why do I have to subsidize everyone else's children

How about the Government give everyone already alive $1000 for each baby born. Sounds better to me, that's a private Social Security system I can get behind.

[turbinetree]

4. Hey dirt bag and your buddy............how much did you pay into Social Security when you got your first job......

do you know what a DEFINED BENEFIT is.......Social Security is a DEFINED BENEFIT........its not linked to a fucking 401k scam on wall street.............and it as absolutely amazing how you people play the shell game on people with earned benefits.........and you want to take tax dollars to pay for this shit............while your buddy want to cuts interests rates................so people making less than lets say 50,000 a year to live on are going to magically place $5, 000 in there kids account and then to top it all off your 34 count convicted fraudster wants to give up to $1000 and place it in a wall street account............you know the same guy that let casinos crash and burned that he owned............do you have defined interest rate for this scam...........people should ask and you should be able to tell them........well what is the interest going to be .........I presently get a COLA based on inflation................

[Puppyjive]

5. so gamble with social security

Fuck that. I saw so many people lose their 401k's in 2008. They didn't lose their social security. It's a gamble to social security taxes and invest them into private equity. So sick of the wealthy taking from average hard, working people. And on another note, watch those Epstein documentaries again. It is all coming together for me now. Trump is a pedophile and so are many rich men who are trying to destroy the files. They all were in it.

[twodogsbarking]

6. You will have to buy Shitcoin from Trump.

[Cheezoholic]

7. Everyone who thinks this stock market, this economy, this country are here to stay are just plain full of shit

There's a damn good reason these fuckers want every penny of the average Joe invested into the markets. Because they are going to take that money and turn it into tangible wealth, most notably dirt, lots and lots of land, that will survive under their network of fiefdom's maintain their self worth while the world crumbles around them, or so they think. These fuckers are setting themselves and THEIR children for the shit storm that's coming. Fat Cat corporations aren't stupid and they know, they've run the numbers, their little geeks in their basements have shown them the truth before being silenced.

The bottom line is no economy of scale, no political system of ANY kind other than full on Anarchy is going to survive the coming climate disaster, the coming complete poisoning of this planets ecosystem and the complete demise of the human race as a top predator/species due to uncontrolled overpopulation. Every single one of those things are highly probable, and most likely not reversible, over the next 25 to 75 years and are going to come almost all at the same time. I may sound like some crazy street side "The End is Near" dirty footed fruitcake but I'm here to tell you, we have passed the tipping point. And these FatCat Fucks know it more than ever. The less they tell people they know the less competition they have for their little kingdoms.

Investing in our future has 0, nothing, zilch to do with money and everything to do with learning, and teaching our kids and grandkids, HOW to survive the ugliness that is coming.

I was told by an Anthropology professor back in the late 80's, 9 billion people. That's it, there's no turning back. 9 billion and the planet is toast for humans. I think she was right.

FF!!!

[valleyrogue]

8. Bessent is full of shit

and he knows it. They tried similar shit with Pinochet in Chile, and it was a complete disaster.

[valleyrogue]

9. SS is a social insurance program. It is not an investment scheme. Bessent is full of shit, as always. n/t

[Bayard]

10. I don't want anyone gambling with my money

Period. Especially not a financial loser like trump.

[3825-87867]

11. And the sheep think tramp thinks these new ideas up himself!

We're being ruled by a religious "Foundation" and wealthy zealots and everything's just fine!

[LudwigPastorius]

12. a "backdoor for privatizing Social Security."

Truth in advertising.

BOHICA!

[oldmanlynn]

13. This is straight up a scam

To milk millions of magas out of their money

[Karasu]

14. Not long ago, no Republican was stupid enough to actually say this shit out loud. Now, they're all screaming it at the

top of their lungs.

Like a bunch of fucking fascist chimpanzees.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

15. How would you like something forced up your backdoor Bessent?

Fucking asshole

[LetMyPeopleVote]

16. Maddow Blog-Trump's treasury secretary says he sees 'a backdoor for privatizing Social Security'

“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just said the quiet part out loud: The administration is scheming to privatize Social Security,” the DNC said.

Scott Bessent, Trump’s Treasury secretary, said he sees part of the Republicans’ megabill as “a backdoor for privatizing Social Security.”

It was interesting to see Democrats waste no time in offering “five-alarm fire” reactions. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-07-30T20:06:03.549Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-treasury-secretary-says-sees-backdoor-privatizing-social-securi-rcna222062

When the Republican Party’s domestic policy megabill — the inaptly named One Big Beautiful Bill Act — was still taking shape in May, GOP officials were determined to include a provision about investing $1,000 on behalf of every American baby born over the next four years.....

As Politico reported, the White House Cabinet apparently likes them anyway:

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday framed the president’s new ‘Trump accounts’ as a transformative tool for long-term wealth building and a ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security.’ Bessent said the new tax-deferred investment accounts, which were created by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax law earlier this month, could be a way to boost financial literacy and young voters’ engagement in the economy.

The logic of Bessent’s perspective was difficult to follow. According to his pitch at a Brietbart event in Washington, D.C., the treasury secretary believes young people will be less likely to “want to bring down the system” — and vote for candidates such as Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee in New York City’s mayoral race — if they’re literally invested in the market.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:aunpu65mdrhwfie7ynymlzeh/post/3lv77cuzqn42c

Link to tweet

Bessent added, “In a way, it is a backdoor for privatizing Social Security. If, all of a sudden, these accounts grow and you have in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for your retirement, that’s a game-changer, too.”

The Cabinet secretary didn’t elaborate on why, exactly, he thinks this is a “backdoor” for privatizing Social Security, or why the Trump administration sees privatizing Social Security as a worthwhile policy goal — though I'm certainly looking forward to his future comments on the subject. (The accounts included in the megabill won’t have any direct impact on Social Security benefits.)....

Brandon Weathersby, a spokesperson for American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC aligned with Democratic politics, pushed a similar line: “Republicans think if they make the SSA inoperable by firing critical staffers and make it nearly impossible to get the help you need, they can deem it all beyond repair and privatize the entire program, so their billionaire friends can make a fortune off the backs of some of the most vulnerable Americans. ... Scott Bessent just admitted what Trump and Republicans have been hiding all along: Their plan was never to protect and strengthen Social Security; it was to dismantle it, take benefits away from seniors and the working-class, and turn the program into a cash cow for the ultra-rich.”

I have a hunch the public hasn’t heard the last of Bessent’s quote.