It is not far along to assume that President Donald Trump is already planning on cutting several programs in the event that he gets re-elected this year. Trump admitted that he may be considering cutting Medicare and social security in case he gains a second term in office.
Politicalflare reports that during an interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernan, Trump revealed that there would be some entitlement reform if he becomes President again. He was asked if entitlements would ever be up the chopping block if he wins the election again, Trump replied: “At some point, they will be.” But Kernan followed that up by saying that he previously promised he would not do that in the past – referring to his 2016 pledge to keep healthcare and social security intact, to which Trump says, “We also have assets that we never had.”
While it is not clear how those reforms would take shape, it seems apparent that Trump may be considering putting Medicare and social security on the chopping block. Naturally, that did not sit well with the Democrats, who immediately criticized the President’s words. Bill Pascrell, Jr. commented that Trump is already warning the public of what he would be doing if he wins the election again, after actively trying to both destroy and take credit for the Affordable Care Act.
Trump is recently faced with an impeachment trial at the Senate, and The Guardian reports the opening argument presented by Representative Adam Schiff from the side of the Democrats. Schiff tried to appeal to the Republican senators, who also serve as jurors of the trial. Schiff, who is also the Lead Impeachment Manager, laid out the groundwork for their argument by referencing the country’s constitutional history along with what is at stake.
However, prior to the second full day of the trial, the Republicans say that the prosecution presented no new evidence of any of the President’s wrongdoings. Trump was voted impeached by the House for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December 2019, in relation to a scheme to pressure Ukraine into asking for an investigation of Trump’s political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. While the Republicans complained that they saw no new evidence, they also voted against hearing from new witnesses.