President Trump Wants States to Run Welfare Programs — and Says It Would Slash Fraud by 75 Percent

President Trump on Wednesday offered a succinct lesson in federalism. He said that, if it were up to him, the federal government would pull back from most welfare programs, returning greater control to the states and requiring them to rely more heavily on their own funding. Under that arrangement, he argued, roughly 75 percent of the fraud the federal government currently fights would simply disappear. 

Why? The answer is straightforward. 

State governments are closer to local voters and taxpayers. That proximity forces them to tailor programs to the specific needs and preferences of their own residents, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all Washington template. Not only does that mean the programs are better at serving their intended purposes, it also means state officials face more direct accountability for how those programs are run. When states must fund a larger share of welfare spending and answer directly to local voters for waste and abuse, they have a stronger incentive to administer programs efficiently, monitor eligibility closely, and root out fraud quickly.

🚨 BOOM! President Trump just said we should force the STATES to run welfare rather than the federal government to slash fraud by -75%

“We have to give things like the LEARING Centers — the federal government runs this stuff. We should run the military and the country. The… pic.twitter.com/GTImPx1X8q

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 3, 2026

“I saw the other day a nurse, a nurse—looked fine, didn’t look like the brightest bulb. She stole a hundred million dollars. Not a million, not $200,000, not $50. She stole a hundred million dollars, and they caught her because she was driving a brand-new Ferrari that cost a million bucks,” the president said. 

“It’s unbelievable. The fraud is unbelievable. And I think we have to give that back to the states, by the way,” Trump added. “We have to give things like the Learning Center, the leering right, the leering centers. The federal government runs this stuff. We should be running our military and running a couple. But the states have to run all of that stuff, and you’ll cut it down by 75 percent, and it’ll be run better. But the states have to be given it back, just like we gave back education.”

This comes as the Trump administration has made combating welfare fraud a central priority. Directly cutting welfare spending or dismantling programs outright is typically unpopular with both Democrats and Republicans. But a significant amount of money, enough to genuinely make a difference, is being wasted through fraud. 

What makes the problem worse is that many states already run their own welfare programs, but those programs are heavily subsidized by the federal government. That arrangement insulates states from the full cost of their decisions, reducing the pressure to administer programs efficiently or police abuse. This is part of why a state like California has become a breeding ground for welfare fraud: generous federal subsidies, combined with California’s own governmental failures, create conditions where waste and abuse can flourish.

The president’s suggestion is simple: when states bear more of the cost and face more direct accountability, they have stronger incentives to run welfare programs responsibly. Returning greater control, and greater financial responsibility, to the states would not only reduce fraud, but also force a more honest conversation about what these programs should do, how they should be administered, and who should pay for them.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and bold policies, America’s economy is back on track.

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