Social Security: How Much Does President Trump Qualify For?
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Ashleigh Ray
Commitment to Our Readers
GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.
20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
With an estimated net worth of $4.6 billion, Donald Trump, the former and current President of the United States, doesn’t necessarily need a monthly Social Security check to help pay the bills. However, at 78 years old, he has been eligible for Social Security for 16 years and reached his full retirement age more than a decade ago.
Given his earnings history, Trump likely qualifies for the maximum Social Security payment even while sitting in The White House. And given his track record, there is nothing to say he wouldn’t go for the biggest pay out. In 2025, the max is $5,108 a month for those who wait to claim benefits until age 70, or $4,018 if you start claiming at full retirement age of 67 and meet certain earnings milestones over the previous 35 working years.
Normally, it’s not possible to know the amount of someone’s Social Security check because that information is private and confidential. But in Trump’s case, the world got a glimpse of his income late last year when his tax returns were released to the public.
So, Does Trump Get a Monthly Social Security Check?
Though it has become an unofficial tradition for presidential candidates and sitting presidents to make their federal tax returns public, Trump is the only president since Nixon to not do so — at least not voluntarily.
After a vote of the House Ways and Means Committee in December 2022 mandated the release of his returns for tax years 2015 to 2020, here were a few key takeaways:
- All IRS tax forms released showed no income claimed in line 6a, which is marked for Social Security benefits.
- This would mean that though Trump qualified for a monthly Social Security check, he hadn’t claimed it up to that point in 2020, but it’s unclear if he has since.
- For comparison, former President Joe Biden does collect Social Security. As previously reported by GOBankingRates, Biden and his wife Jill collected a combined $54,665 in Social Security benefits in 2021, according to their public income tax returns. That breaks down to roughly $4,555 a month or $2,277 for each spouse per month.
- For Trump, skipping Social Security is no great sacrifice — especially since he qualifies for a pension as a former president and receives a salary as current president. His current salary for the president is $400,000, where his pension is $246,000.
- Trump has received more than $3 million in pension, office, printing, travel and other allowances since his first term ended.
Wealthy People Often Forgo Social Security
Trump’s tax returns revealed had no Social Security income for tax years 2015 through 2020. That’s not a huge surprise. Although wealthy people might qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, they are under no obligation to claim them. Many take a pass because they don’t need the money.
“It’s not necessarily uncommon that the real high earners just skip Social Security,” Jim Blair, vice president of Premier Social Security Consulting and a former Social Security administrator, told CNBC.
In fact, some people would like to see all wealthy retirees either be disqualified from collecting Social Security or have their benefits greatly reduced. This is mainly because the program’s Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund is expected to run out of money in about a decade, leaving it solely reliant on payroll taxes for funding. Those taxes will only cover about 77% of current benefits.
Not paying Social Security to the wealthy would help a little, though not nearly enough to make up for the shortfall. Like all former presidents, Trump gets a lifetime federal pension as well as other taxpayer-funded benefits under The Former Presidents Act.
Whether or not all wealthy retirees should skip collecting Social Security is up for debate. Although the rich might not need the money, there are a few reasons they might consider collecting it anyway.
For starters, they paid into the system, so they have a right to the money. Furthermore, their loved ones might be eligible for Social Security benefits under the high earner’s work record — and those loved ones might one day need the money.
Vance Cariaga contributed to the reporting for this article.
More From GOBankingRates
