Welcome back to our #TrumpCheck series, the LACDP's weekly newsletter holding the Trump administration accountable for their lies and self-serving actions.
- Elon Musk has claimed that there is widespread fraud in the Social Security Administration, and that there are millions of individuals taking advantage and making money off of the federal government. He claims that "there are FAR more 'eligible' social security numbers than there are citizens in the USA" and that "this might be the biggest fraud in history."
FACT: There is not evidence of widespread fraud within the Social Security Administration (SSA). About 44,000 Americans over the age of 100 are collecting SSA benefits, which is on track with census data that tracks the number of Americans over the age of 100 years old.
- At a conference last week, Elon Musk said that his goal is to help what he described as "America, Inc." complete a "corporate turnaround" that will include deleting "entire agencies." This does seem to imply the SSA, based on earlier comments. This is similar to his acquisition of Twitter in 2022, when he eliminated over 80% of their staff.
FACT: Elon Musk makes $8 million PER DAY in government contracts. In comparison, the average American on Social Security benefits makes $65.00 per day off of the US government. Donald Trump, who campaigned on creating "explosive economic growth" is actively going against that promise as he empowers Elon Musk to eliminate jobs, and hoard taxpayer dollars for himself.
- Donald Trump claimed in a Truth Social post on Thursday that Politico was "paid Millions of Dollars for NOTHING" and implies that the government employees of USAID "ARE BUYING THE PRESS!"
FACT: Between 2023 and 2024, across the entire agency, USAID employees paid $44,000 in Politico subscriptions. That's it. They had subscriptions.
The Trump administration will continue to try to deceive the American public with their lies and storytelling.
Correcting misinformation distributed by the United States government is a job for us all. We will keep it up here, and on our social media accounts, linked below.
