President Donald Trump on Wednesday opened up a new line of attack for Democrats when he talked about his desire to privatize Social Security.

Even though Trump repeatedly said during his three runs for the White House that he wouldn’t touch Social Security, the president on Wednesday told reporters in the Oval Office that he “wanted to ride with Social Security being fully invested in the stock market in the first month of my first year.”

“Had we done that,” Trump continued, “Social Security right now would be the richest entity anywhere in the world. But that was met with tremendous criticism by the Democrats and some Republicans because, you know, they felt it was risky… I wanted to do it so badly.”

Trump: I wanted to ride with Social Security being fully invested in the stock market in the first month of my first year, so 2016. I was met with tremendous criticism by the Democrats and some Republicans. I wanted to do it so badly. https://t.co/bylHyMBqJM
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 7, 2026

The Bulwark reporter Sam Stein wrote in a Wednesday social media post that Trump’s remarks were “peculiar,” as he “ran explicitly on not touching social security and now invites attacks that he may try to.”

Kendall Witmer, deputy communications director at the Democratic National Committee, seized on Trump’s statement about privatizing Social Security, which he linked to the economic struggles Americans are facing thanks to the president’s illegal war with Iran.

“As working families struggle to make ends meet in Donald Trump’s economy," Witmer said, “Trump is openly admitting that he wants to privatize Social Security and take away the hard-earned benefits seniors have worked towards their whole lives. Trump promised to protect Social Security, but he continues to turn his back on everyday Americans and go after lifelines that millions of people rely on.”

Former President George W. Bush in 2005 made a major push to allow Social Security money to be invested in the stock market. Bush’s plan quickly became politically toxic, however, and never even came up for a vote in the US Congress.

After Bush’s Social Security plan fell apart, Republicans would go on to lose control of both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate amid voter disapproval of the Iraq War.

Current polling suggests the Trump-led GOP could face a similar fate in next month’s midterms. According to polling averages calculated by elections analyst Nate Silver, Democrats currently hold a nine-point lead in the generic congressional ballot.

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