Donald Trump Believes States Should Handle Medicare Funding

At a White House Easter lunch on Wednesday, Donald Trump said he believes individual states—not the federal government—should be responsible for funding programs such as childcare, Medicare, and Medicaid.

During remarks to attendees, Trump said he had advised Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, not to allocate federal funds toward daycare programs.

“I said to [Vought], ‘Don’t send any money for daycare because the United States can’t take care of daycare,’” Trump said, Yahoo News reports. Trump added that such responsibilities should fall to state governments. He suggested states could raise taxes to fund those programs if needed.

Trump also extended that argument to other major federal programs. 

“It’s not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things,” he said. “They can do it on a state basis.”

The president added that he believes the federal government’s primary role should be national defense. “We have to take care of one thing: military protection,” Trump said. “We have to guard the country.”

The comments come as debates continue in Washington over federal spending priorities and the role of government in funding social safety net programs. Medicare and Medicaid provide health coverage to tens of millions of Americans, while federal childcare support has been a key issue for both parties in recent years.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration moved to suspend certain federal child care and public welfare funds to several states, including New York, California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota, citing concerns about fraud. A federal judge later blocked that effort.

Trump’s remarks are likely to draw responses from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as discussions over federal and state responsibilities continue.

See social media’s reaction to Trump’s latest declaration below.