‘Making the system strong’: Trump announces massive Social Security cleanup

On the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act, President Donald J. Trump delivered a stirring proclamation in the Oval Office, promising to “Make Social Security Great Again.”

Trump celebrated the passage of his signature legislation, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which includes a temporary senior tax deduction, effectively eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits for many recipients aged 65 and above from 2025 through 2028.

As part of the administration’s push to “root out fraud, waste, and abuse,” Trump touted removing 275,000 illegal aliens from the Social Security system and clearing 12.4 million names listed as being over 120 years old.

In his remarks and through a White House post, he claimed many of these phantom entries were getting benefits.

Trump:
“Last month, I signed one big, beautiful bill and allowed no tax on Social Security for our great seniors. Okay, so how’s that? Not bad, right? No tax on Social Security for our seniors.

To protect our benefits, we’ve already kicked nearly 275,000 illegal aliens off of the Social Security system. These are people—many of them have already left the country—and yet we were sending them checks all the time.

And 275,000… that number is now even larger than that, Frank. It’s an unbelievable job, and what that’s doing is making the system strong. It’s making it strong.

Biden never kicked anybody off. Everybody joined. And we’re carrying out historic deportations to remove many more illegals committing Social Security fraud. It’s the Social Security fraud that was taking place at levels that nobody’s ever seen.

We cleared 12.4 million names listed in the Social Security database over 120 years of age. Just think of that. So we had 12.4 million names where they were over 120 years old. Is that right? That’s a hell of a statement.

So you have 12.4 million names listed in the Social Security database that were over 120 years of age, meaning you were breaking records, because I’ve never heard of anybody at 125.

There were nearly 135,000 people listed who were over 160 years old, and in some cases getting payments. So somebody’s getting those payments, and we’re after that.”

President Trump, on the 90th Anniversary of the Social Security Act, is strengthening Social Security for ALL AMERICANS:

No tax on Social Security for seniors
Removed 275,000 illegal aliens from the system
12.4 million names over 120 years old removed from database pic.twitter.com/kTasd9yHuQ

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 14, 2025

The administration took credit for significant enhancements in SSA customer service: handling 70% more calls, reducing average hold times from 30 minutes to just six minutes, and driving a surge in automated self-service options, serving 90% of calls via technology-based solutions.

Field office wait times dropped 23%, and appointment usage quintupled.

More from the White House:

Social Security has transformed customer service.

• The agency is handling 70% more calls than last year, while lowering the average speed of answer by 80%, from 30 minutes to just six minutes.
• Improved use of technology has enabled 90% of calls to the national line to be served via automated self-service options or callbacks, further minimizing hold times.
• Average customer wait times at field offices have declined by 23%, while five times as many visitors have scheduled appointments compared to last year.
• All field offices are fully staffed, with employees returning to the office five days a week for the first time in years to better serve the American people.

Social Security has made vast technology improvements.

• Americans now have 24/7/365 access to their online accounts after reducing the longstanding scheduled downtime of 29 hours per week to zero — enabling over 280,000 more customers to access their online accounts in the first two weeks alone.
• A new recording and transcription system to replace antiquated hardware is near full implementation — increasing accuracy and saving millions of dollars per year.
• Innovative upgrades to phone technology have been deployed to 92% of field offices.

Social Security has driven down backlogs and delivered ahead of schedule.

• There has been a 26% reduction in the backlog of initial disability claims from its all-time high last year, while the average processing time has been cut down by five days and the average wait time for a disability hearing has been cut by 60 days.
• Over 3.1 million payments — totaling more than $17 billion — were sent to eligible beneficiaries under the Social Security Fairness Act five months ahead of schedule.

Social Security has dramatically increased accountability.

• The agency has identified more than $1 billion in cost avoidance and efficiencies this fiscal year.
• The agency has addressed billions of dollars in improper payments.
• After years of delay, Social Security is rolling out a new payroll information exchange that will transmit information directly from payroll providers — saving billions of dollars in payments over the next decade.

[Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on The Gateway Pundit.com]