Trump says Medicaid, Social Security won't be affected by planned grant freeze

President Trump said Wednesday that Social Security and Medicaid will not be affected by his proposed freeze on federal grants and loans, accusing the media of purposely distorting the facts of the planned funding pause.

“I’m restating right now to correct any confusion that the media has purposely and somehow, for whatever reason, has created — Social Security and Medicaid have not been affected by any action we’re taking in any way shape or form,” Mr. Trump said at the White House.

The president’s comments came hours after his administration rescinded an Office of Management and Budget order that froze grants and loans and spread widespread confusion in Washington and the states.

Mr. Trump said the pause was necessary to identify “waste fraud and abuse within federal agencies.” He said his administration has already uncovered plenty of wasteful spending, including $50 million sent to Gaza for condoms.

“You know what’s happened to them? They’ve used them as a method of making bombs. How about that?” he said.

Other payments Mr. Trump said his team has stopped include payments to resettle illegal immigrants, $181 million in diversity, equity and inclusion training, $40 billion that was scheduled to be paid to the World Health Organization, and $1.7 billion in foreign aid payments that he said was unauthorized.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted the freeze wouldn’t affect federal assistance to individual benefits such as Social Security and Medicare. However, when pressed on indirect social service programs, which include Medicare as well as Meals on Wheels and other services, she declined to say if they’d be affected.

Moments after the briefing, Ms. Leavitt confirmed on X that the online portal through which the federal government disburses funds to state Medicaid departments had stopped working. The breakdown temporarily jeopardized federal payments to tens of millions of low-income Americans for medical treatment.

The administration rescinded the order after a federal judge temporarily halted its implementation on Tuesday. Ms. Leavitt acknowledged that the memo had been revoked, but said the effort to review federal spending will move forward unimpeded.