Last night, Donald Trump delivered a bloated, hyper-partisan spectacle that did nothing to allay the concerns of older Americans. In fact, the president attempted to mislead seniors about the administration’s policies that most seriously affect them.
“The state of the union speech was theatrics over substance. And it was patently partisan,” said NCPSSM president and CEO, Max Richtman. “Trump’s brand of political performance art is no substitute for leadership that improves the lives of Americans of all ages, including our nation’s seniors.”
Here are some of the lowlights:
“No more taxes on Social Security benefits”
Trump’s mumbling, bumbling diatribe (which broke the record for the longest State of the Union ever) contained countless lies and exaggerations, some old and some brand new. He boasted that the administration has “eliminated taxes on Social Security,” which is patently false.
The president’s “Big, Ugly Bill” did NOT cut or eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits. It did contain a limited tax deduction for seniors until 2028 that phases out at higher income levels. But he continues to lie about changing taxation on benefits.
Millions of Social Security beneficiaries will still owe federal income tax on their Social Security benefits this year, just as they did under Presidents Biden, Trump 1.0, Obama, W. Bush, et al.
“Protecting” seniors’ programs
Trump also grossly misled Americans by saying that his administration will “protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.” First of all, the Big, Ugly Bill cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid — which will result in millions of Americans of all ages losing health coverage when the law kicks in. Hospitals and clinics in underserved areas already are closing because of the coming cuts in federal funding.
As for Social Security and Medicare, Trump has been a poor steward of both as their trust funds approach depletion between 2030 and 2040, absent any corrective action. Trump/GOP policies have made the situation worse, not better. As Fortune’s Nick Lichtenberg wrote in response to Trump’s speech:
“Sweeping legislative changes spearheaded by his administration have drastically shortened the financial lifespans of both Medicare and Social Security, accelerating their (trust funds’) paths toward insolvency.” – Fortune, 2/24/26
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has undermined Social Security through reckless cuts in staffing and customer service at the Social Security Administration. Seniors’ advocates have rightly called these maneuvers a “back door approach” to cutting Social Security.
TrumpRx and Other Prescription Drug Hooey
We also saw Trump try to dodge another reality he can’t escape: Americans, young and old, continue to face high prescription drug costs. Instead of being honest with the public last night, Trump focused not on inflated prices, but serving his inflated ego:
“I am ending the wildly inflated cost of prescription drugs. Other presidents tried to do it, but they never could. They didn’t even come close.” – Donald Trump, 2/24/2026
Really? Here’s the truth: President Biden and congressional Democrats enacted real reform via the Inflation Reduction Act, which, among other things, empowered Medicare to negotiate prices with Big Pharma — a provision which already is lowering prices for several life-saving drugs.
NBC News notes that Biden’s 2022 law:
- Capped insulin at 35 dollars a month for people on Medicare.
- Created a 2,000 dollar annual cap on out‑of‑pocket Medicare drug costs.
- For the first time, allowed Medicare to negotiate prices on some of its most expensive medicines.
By contrast, Trump has relied on sketchy, back-room deals with a handful of drugmakers, plus his TrumpRx “self‑pay” platform that offers cash prices on a limited number of medications. These discounts generally don’t apply to people with Medicare or employer-provided insurance, don’t count toward deductibles, and often can’t beat the prices of existing generics. Trump simply re-branded existing manufacturers’ coupons on his own site.
For all its bloat, last night’s speech did nothing to address the challenges facing America’s seniors. Overheated rhetoric and lies do not make up for the potentially devastating effects of Trump’s wrongheaded policies.
“Hopefully, America will soon forget last night’s bizarre ‘reality show’ that has little relation to the reality of day-to-day life in America,” said Max Richtman. “But we will remind voters this election year of this administration’s myriad failures to protect older Americans and their families.”