WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is already reneging on one of the promises he repeatedly made to a key voting bloc to win back the presidency, his vow to eliminate taxes on millions of retirees’ Social Security payments.
“No tax on Social Security benefits for our seniors,” he told rallygoers in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on Oct. 13. “And you deserve it.”
“We will have no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security benefits for our seniors,” he repeated at a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Nov. 2.
After winning the November election and returning to the White House, he has continued with the same pledge. As recently as last week, during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity aboard Air Force One, Trump repeated it yet again: “No tax on Social Security benefits for seniors, which is so great.”
In reality, though, Trump and his congressional allies are offering Social Security recipients a mere fraction of the financial benefit they have been promising since last year. Instead of making Social Security benefits tax-free, House Republicans have now included in their spending and tax cut plan a new $4,000 tax deduction for seniors — which translates into an actual cash benefit of less than $500 for most retirees.
