President Donald Trump on Wednesday said it is “not possible” for the federal government to fund Medicare, Medicaid and child care costs, arguing that states should “take care” of those programs while the federal government focuses on military spending.
The president’s comments were delivered to attendees at a private Easter lunch at the White House, where Trump also accused Democratic-led states of cheating.
He told Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vote: “Don’t send any money for day care, because the United States can’t take care of day care. It has to be in the states. We can’t take care of day care. We’re a big country. We have 50 states. We have all these other people. We can fight to get the state to take care of day care. Care, and they have to pay for it, too.
Later in his remarks, the president added that states would have to raise their taxes to pay for child care costs and that the federal government could “make them lower our taxes a little bit” to do so.
“We’re not going to be able to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these personal things,” Trump said. “They can do it on a state basis. You can’t do it on a federal basis. We have to take care of one thing: military security. We have to protect the country.”
The Easter lunch where the president made these comments was not open to the press, but the White House posted a video of Trump’s remarks on its YouTube page — as it usually does at open press events — and has since deleted it.
“President Trump has been committed to rooting out billions of dollars in fraud in these vital programs — and his record proves he will always protect and strengthen Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wells said in a statement. “The president proudly signed historic legislation that eliminates taxes on Social Security benefits for nearly all seniors and prevents illegal immigrants and other ineligible people from receiving Medicare and Medicaid benefits. Trump’s economic agenda will continue to lower costs to make everyday life more affordable for hard-working American families.”
The federal government currently provides funds to states to subsidize child care for low-income families through programs such as Child Care and Development Block Grants and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Democrats have long sought to pass federal laws that would further subsidize the cost of child care for families with young children.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Kathryn Clark, D-Mass., introduced legislation last year that would expand access to early education and cap childcare costs for families at 7% of their household income.
Some Democrats quickly seized on Trump’s comments Wednesday, comparing the cost of child care to the cost of ongoing U.S. military operations in Iran, which reached $11.3 billion in the first six days of last month.
“Trump says we can pay for war on Iran but not child care. Mr. President, the billions you’re wasting on Iran could pay for $10 a day of child care for every American family paid $25 an hour with child care workers,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., wrote in a post on X.
“For the cost of 3 weeks of this war, we could provide every senior on Medicare with vision, hearing and dental coverage for a year. It’s possible. Trump doesn’t care to do it,” wrote Sen. Andy Kim, DNJ, on X.
Members of the Trump administration, including the president, have for months accused states of receiving federal subsidies for child care, with little evidence. In January, the Department of Health and Human Services also froze access to child care and family assistance funding for five Democratic-led states: California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York.
In December, the Trump administration specifically targeted Minnesota after viral allegations from conservative influencers that childcare centers in the state were fraudulent.
A subsequent review by the state Department of Children, Youth and Families found that the day care centers at the center of the viral outbreak were operating normally.
On Wednesday, Trump again accused Democratic states of cheating, telling attendees at an Easter luncheon, “In Minnesota, in Los Angeles, they have thousands. [day care centers].”
Trump claimed in places “They have more day care centers than children. They literally, so they have thousands. So we go and we send inspectors. Of the 700 that they looked at, almost, in Minnesota, there was not one that was a day care center.”
He also accused Republican-led states of cheating and “stealing” that they would have to “compete” with Democratic-led states.
“It’s a lot of states, maybe even Republican states, because they’re going to see this, and they’re not like — we’re not like thieves, but, you know, they don’t believe in stealing — but when they see the Democrats do it, and then they have to compete with that. So I can’t imagine they can’t do it,” Trump said.
The President has appointed Vice President JD Vance as a key player in his mission to root out fraud. Last week, Vance called the first meeting of the administration’s new anti-fraud task force. And on Wednesday, the vice president swore in Colleen MacDonald as assistant attorney general for national fraud enforcement.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
