Former President Joe Biden makes his first major speech since leaving office, at the Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) conference in Chicago, Illinois on April 15, 2025.
Joe Biden has used his first speech since leaving office to criticise the Trump administration’s welfare policies.
The ex-US president told a conference in Chicago that the government had “taken a hatchet” to the Social Security system, which Donald Trump and Elon Musk – who is leading the White House’s cost-cutting efforts – say is beset by fraud.
The administration wants to cut staff at the agency responsible for spending $1.6 trillion (£1.2 trillion) in benefits a year.
Biden did not refer to Trump by name during his speech on Tuesday, but said: “In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction. It’s kind of breath-taking.”
He described Social Security as a “sacred promise”, adding: “We know just how much Social Security matters to people’s lives.”
Biden – who was speaking at a disability rights event – did not address his departure from the White House or the 2024 presidential election.
The Social Security Agency (SSA) provides a base income for people in the US who are retired or cannot work because of a disability. It covers about 67 million Americans, primarily older citizens.
Democratic politicians have accused the Trump administration of planning sweeping Social Security cuts.
The White House accuses them of scaremongering, citing the Republican president’s promises never to cut Social Security payments to American retirees.
Trump has previously said he intends only to target fraudulent claims and payments to illegal immigrants.
Members of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency have been making cuts to the agency staff since February, with the target of slashing 7,000 jobs – about 10% of its total staff.
Musk has described Social Security as “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time”.
On Tuesday, Trump signed an order preventing illegal immigrants and “other ineligible people” from obtaining social security payments.
Before Biden’s Chicago speech,Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president was “absolutely certain” about protecting benefits for “law-abiding tax-paying American citizens and seniors”.
“He will always protect that programme,” she added.
In a post on X, the SSA – which is now controlled by a Trump appointee – said Biden had been “lying” during his Chicago speech.
Since leaving office, Biden has kept a relatively low profile. In February, he signed with Creative Artists Agency, the Los Angeles talent agency that represented him between 2017-20.
Barack Obama also criticised the Trump administration on Tuesday, saying on X that its decision to freeze more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in federal funds for Harvard University was “unlawful and ham-handed”.
Trump is freezing the fund because Harvard said it would not make changes to its hiring, admissions and teaching practices that he argues are key to fighting alleged antisemitism on campus.
