On Tuesday, President Donald Trump restated unsupported allegations of massive fraud in the Social Security system.
Trump said that “many” people who are probably too old to be alive are getting “a lot of money” from the Social Security system, citing “shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud” in his remarks to a joint session of Congress.
Trump stated during the speech that “1.3 million people between the ages of 150 and 159 and over 130,000 people are over 160 years old, according to the social security databases,” noting that one individual was reported as being 360 years old.
However, contrary to what USA TODAY previously reported, the existence of active files for almost 19 million individuals born prior to 1921 in the Social Security database does not indicate significant fraud.
According to a 2023 audit, the individuals are not listed as deceased because the SSA did not receive or document information about their passing, mainly because they passed away prior to the adoption of electronic reporting. However, “almost none” got payouts, and the SSA believes these individuals are no longer alive.
