Donald Trump Claims “Millions” Of Dead Individuals Are Receiving Social Security Checks
President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are on a mission to weed out fraud and improper distribution of government funds.
In a series of statements made both online and in press conferences, Trump and Musk have shared suspicions that “millions” of deceased persons over 100 years old are still improperly receiving Social Security payouts.

🚨BREAKING: President Trump lists MASSIVE fraud in Social Security:

200 to 209 years old, 879 people.

210 to 219 years old, 866 people.

220 to 229 years old, 1,039 people.

240 to 249 years old, 2 people.

1 person that is 360 years old. pic.twitter.com/WM8XSaZyd0

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 18, 2025

Trump’s efforts to eliminate these mispayments and dramatically reduce Social Security spending have many wondering what the implications might be for citizens who rely on those funds.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump assured citizens that warranted payments of funds, including Social Security and Medicaid, “won’t be touched.”

“Social Security won’t be touched, other than if there’s fraud or something. It’s going to be strengthened. Medicare, Medicaid — none of that stuff is going to be touched.

Now, if there are illegal migrants in the system, we’re going to get them out.” pic.twitter.com/R2zuXbNrOe

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) February 19, 2025

Opposition Refutes President Trump’s Claims

Many outlets were quick to refute the President’s claims. The Associated Press reports that while some improper payments were made, the numbers being shared by the current administration have been “overstated.”

According to a July 2024 report from the Office of the Inspector General, the Social Security Administration paid out nearly $8.6 trillion in benefits between 2015 and 2022. Of that, $71.8 billion was improper payments, most of which were overpayments to living recipients.

The AP reports that Social Security’s antiquated software is partially to blame for the discrepancy. As it stands, entries with missing or incomplete birthdates will default to a starting point of more than 150 years ago.

Additionally, prior reports from the Inspector General revealed that the system contains roughly 18.9 million Social Security numbers of individuals born prior to 1920 who were not marked as deceased. However, the report goes on to clarify that “almost none of the number holders discussed in the report currently receive SSA payments.”

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Clarifies The Goals Of The DOGE

In an appearance on the Sean Hannity show, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt aimed to “set the record straight” for any deserving Americans who fear they may lose access to Social Security.

She asserts that President Trump, Elon Musk, and the DOGE team have three main goals regarding Social Security:

1. Identify and end duplicate payments
2. Identify payments that are going to deceased people

.@PressSec: “President Trump has directed Elon Musk and the DOGE team to identify fraud at the Social Security Administration… They suspect that there are tens of millions of deceased people receiving fraudulent Social Security payments.” pic.twitter.com/uRkCUTwbQD

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 18, 2025

Additionally, Leavitt stated:

“A previous investigation revealed the SSA paid at least $71.8 billion in improper payments. The Social Security Administration is now working to find even more waste, fraud, and abuse in the Administration’s whole-of-government effort to protect American taxpayers.”