{"id":2412559,"date":"2025-03-11T17:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T21:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-says-trump-is-unequivocally-clear-on-protecting-medicare\/"},"modified":"2025-03-11T17:04:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T21:04:53","slug":"white-house-says-trump-is-unequivocally-clear-on-protecting-medicare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-says-trump-is-unequivocally-clear-on-protecting-medicare\/","title":{"rendered":"White House says Trump is \u2018unequivocally clear\u2019 on protecting Medicare"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhite-house-says-trump-is-unequivocally-clear-on-protecting-medicare%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2412559&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent statement from the White House reaffirmed President Donald \u2064Trump&#8217;s commitment to protecting \u2063Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, despite contrasting views from Elon Musk. Musk has <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">suggested critically important cuts<\/a> to entitlement spending, calling \u2062Social Security a &#8220;Ponzi scheme&#8221; and emphasizing the need for reductions. White\u200d House Press Secretary Karoline \u2064Leavitt\u200b responded to Musk&#8217;s critique, insisting that Trump will safeguard these programs for Americans\u2062 who have contributed to them. She acknowledged\u200c concerns about \u200dfraud in Social Security but positioned Trump as focused on eliminating waste rather than cutting benefits. This discussion unfolds amidst ongoing scrutiny of House Republicans\u2019 \u2062budget proposals, which have faced criticism for potential cuts to mandatory spending, including Medicaid.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump will &lsquo;protect&rsquo; entitlements despite Musk&rsquo;s elimination talk: White House<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2036003\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Donald Trump<\/a> has been &ldquo;unequivocally clear&rdquo; regarding his promise to protect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/social-security\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Social Security<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/medicare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Medicare<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/medicaid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Medicaid<\/a>, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/white-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">White House<\/a>, despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/elon-musk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Elon Musk <\/a>describing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/entitlements\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">entitlement spending<\/a> as the &ldquo;big one&rdquo; in terms of cutting the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;President Trump has been unequivocally clear on this: He is going to protect Social Security and Medicare benefits and Medicaid for hardworking Americans who paid into these entitlement programs and deserve those hard-earned benefits,&rdquo; White House press secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/karoline-leavitt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Karoline Leavitt<\/a> told reporters Tuesday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3343927\/trump-easing-tensions-canada-latest-tariff-blowup\/\">Trump signals easing of tensions with Canada after latest tariff blowup<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3344004\/white-house-mum-external-revenue-service-launch-trump-trade-war-tariffs\/\">White House mum on External Revenue Service launch as Trump mounts trade war<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3343858\/watch-live-karoline-leavitt-briefs-the-press-as-stock-market-worries-mount\/\">WATCH LIVE: Karoline Leavitt briefs the press as stock market worries mount<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Earlier this month, Musk criticized Social Security as a &ldquo;Ponzi scheme&rdquo; before telling Fox News this week that &ldquo;most of the federal spending is entitlements&rdquo; and that it is &ldquo;the&nbsp;big&nbsp;one&nbsp;to eliminate.&rdquo; While the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tesla\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Tesla<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/spacex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">SpaceX<\/a> CEO and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-to-make-clear-hes-still-in-charge-of-republican-party-at-cpac-report\/\" title=\"... To Make Clear He\u2019s \u2018Still In Charge\u2019 Of Republican Party At CPAC: Report\">de facto head<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-government-efficiency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Department of Government Efficiency<\/a> is correct concerning federal spending, he also claimed without offering proof during the same Monday interview that Social Security was &ldquo;a mechanism by which the Democrats attract and retain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/immigration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">illegal immigrants<\/a> by essentially paying them to come here and then turning them into voters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>House Republicans&rsquo; position on entitlement programs was scrutinized last month after their budget resolution proposed deep cuts to mandatory spending. With Trump stating during last month&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/cabinet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Cabinet<\/a> meeting that those reductions will not come from Medicare and Social Security,&nbsp;experts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3339526\/gop-must-cut-medicare-and-medicaid-to-meet-budget-target\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"have warned \">have warned <\/a>they would come, for example, from Medicaid to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/we-always-wait-zelensky-laments-constant-delays-as-analysts-say-russia-enjoys-tactical-advantage-in-ukraine-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"\u2018We always wait,\u2019 Zelensky laments constant delays, as analysts say Russia enjoys tactical advantage in Ukraine - Washington Examiner\">meet spending targets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A day after Musk&rsquo;s comments on Fox News, Leavitt contended that &ldquo;unfortunately, the mainstream media has taken Mr. Musk out of context.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What he was specifically referring to cutting was the waste and the fraud and abuse that does exist in these programs,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;According to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/inspectors-general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">IG<\/a> report from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ssa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Social Security Administration<\/a>, there&rsquo;s more than $70 billion of fraud in the Social Security program alone that we know of, and so the president will continue to protect these programs for &hellip; hardworking Americans and actually cutting the waste, fraud, and abuse out of these programs will protect it for hardworking Americans.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In the Fox News interview, Musk estimated he could decrease entitlement spending by $500 billion to $700 billion.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an estimate based on what he&rsquo;s seen,&rdquo; Leavitt said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not saying definitively. He&rsquo;s saying that&rsquo;s what DOGE suspects and thinks, and that&rsquo;s exactly why DOGE was created: to ensure that we are investigating the fraudulent spending, the wasteful abuse across our federal government. And I would remind everybody in this room that 77% of the American people support this effort by Elon Musk and DOGE to identify such waste.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Much of Tuesday&rsquo;s briefing focused on the turbulence experienced by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/markets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">stock market <\/a>amid Trump&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tariffs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">tariff<\/a> threats.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3343713\/christopher-cooper-doge-secrecy-records-requests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"JUDGE FINDS DOGE WORKS IN 'UNUSUAL SECRECY' AND MUST COMPLY WITH RECORDS REQUESTS\"><strong>JUDGE FINDS DOGE WORKS IN &lsquo;UNUSUAL SECRECY&rsquo; AND MUST COMPLY WITH RECORDS REQUESTS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As President Trump has said, and I&rsquo;m here to echo the remarks of this president, of this White House, we are in a period of economic transition,&rdquo; Leavitt said. &ldquo;We are in a period of transition from the mess that was created under Joe Biden in the previous administration. Joe Biden left this country in an economic disaster.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jen-psaki-says-shed-be-happy-to-take-on-kayleigh-mcenany-on-fox-news\/\" title=\"Jen Psaki Says She\u2019d Be \u2018Happy\u2019 To Take On Kayleigh McEnany On ...\u00a0\">press secretary added<\/a>: &ldquo;Despite the globalist mainstream media&rsquo;s attempts to worry consumers, President Trump will not repeat the trend of past American presidents who broke their promises to the American public.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2036003\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2036003\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump vows to safeguard entitlements despite Musk&#8217;s comments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2652,"featured_media":2412560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/karoline-leavitt-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38313,4159,3634,32127],"class_list":["post-2412559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-health-policy","tag-medicare","tag-trump","tag-white-house"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/karoline-leavitt-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2652"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2412559"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2412564,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412559\/revisions\/2412564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2412560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2412559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2412559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2412559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}