President Donald Trump is open to cutting back entitlement programs like Medicare, he told CNBC reporter Joe Kernen in a much-talked-about interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Four things to know about what President Trump said in the interview:
1. When asked if entitlement programs would ever be targeted for spending reductions, President Trump told Mr. Kernen, "At some point they will be." He added that any changes would happen "toward the end of this year." When asked specifically about Medicare, he said, "We're going to look."
2. The president didn't elaborate on how or what aspects of the programs he would look at for potential reductions.
3. Coverage of the interview from The New York Times notes that the cuts would help reduce the federal deficit, which topped $1 trillion last year, the highest level since 2012. The New York Times credits this increase to more tax cuts and spending.
4. The New York Times report also notes that President Trump proposed spending reductions in entitlement programs in his last budget. An analysis from the nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated his 2020 budget proposal included roughly $575 billion in total Medicare spending reductions.
Read the full New York Times analysis of the interview here.
Read the full interview transcript here.
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