Scott Bessent says the quiet part out loud

Speaking at a Breitbart event, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent crowed about the new “Trump Accounts” in which the parents or employer can contribute up to $5000/year. The funds are to be structured like IRAs and must be invested in portfolios tied to U.S. stock indexes. Quoth Bessent:

“In a way, it is a backdoor for privatizing Social Security,” Bessent said at the Breitbart event. “If, all of a sudden, these accounts grow and you have in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for your retirement, that’s a game-changer, too.” 

First of all, if “all of a sudden” these accounts exploded to hundreds of thousand of dollars, that will be because of a sudden massive increase in inflation. Which means those hundreds of thousands of nominal dollars aren’t going to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars in goods and services in retirement. Either Bessent doesn’t understand how money works or—more likely—he’s selling snake oil.

Secondly, where are tens of millions of American families that are scraping by month by month going to find an additional $5000/year? Since many or most of them are paying little or no income taxes, how will they be incented by a tax-deferred account? Why should their employers, who are already paying part of their SS pony up $5000/year?

Of course, none of this makes sense except as a way to undermine and eventually privatize Social Security. But apparently Bessent got spanked for admitting the truth and had to backpedal.

“Later on Wednesday, Bessent clarified in a post on X that the new Trump accounts “are an additive benefit for future generations, which will supplement the sanctity of Social Security’s guaranteed payments.” He added: “This is not an either-or question: our Administration is committed to protecting Social Security and to making sure seniors have more money.”

Want to make sure seniors have more money? Support unions and higher-paying working-class jobs. Support single payer healthcare.

Look, Bessent and the rest of the GOP billionaire elites in the Trump Administration didn’t get rich by investing a few thousand a year in index funds. And they all know very well that the stock market goes down as well as up. This isn’t a scheme to help the working class to a better retirement, it’s the first step in a long-term plan to wean Americans off Social Security and divert their retirements into the pockets of investors. The only surprise is that cryptocurrency isn’t an allowed investment. Yet.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/30/bessent-trump-accounts-backdoor-privatize-social-security-00484859

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