Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) blasted President Donald Trump after he suggested the federal government cannot afford to fund daycare, Medicaid and Medicare while the United States is fighting wars, arguing that his priorities are upside down.
Warren Casts War Spending As Tradeoff
In a post on X, the Massachusetts Democrat wrote, “Imagine if instead of funding forever wars in the Middle East, the United States delivered universal child care and health care for all Americans.”
Warren’s post came after Trump, speaking at a White House Easter lunch on Wednesday, laid out a much narrower view of what Washington should pay for.
Trump Says States Should Handle Benefits
During the event, Trump said he had told Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought not to send money for daycare because, in his view, that responsibility belongs to the states.
He argued that the federal government could not handle daycare in a country as large as the United States and said states should fund it themselves, even if that meant raising taxes. He then put it more bluntly, “We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of daycare.”
Trump went further, saying, “It’s not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things. They can do it on a state basis. You can’t do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing: military protection.” The White House’s YouTube account, after broadcasting Trump’s remarks live, made the video private on the website.
Iran Clash Deepens Warren’s Broader Attack
Warren has been making that broader case for weeks. In a Senate floor speech this month, she called Trump’s Iran policy a “reckless war” and a “betrayal” of Americans, and said the conflict was costing taxpayers about $1 billion a day, money she argued could instead lower health care costs or support families at home.
Ahead of Trump’s prime-time address on the Iran conflict on Wednesday, Warren accused him of abandoning key campaign pledges. The president, during his address, later said that if no agreement is reached with Iran, the U.S. would launch strikes on the country’s power infrastructure, targeting its electric generating plants with force.
Photo: OogImages/Shutterstock
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