It's getting harder to tell if Trump was ever on our side | Opinion
Even when Trump's administration makes a major error – like sharing plans for a bombing attack on Yemen on a commercial messaging app and accidentally including a journalist – they make excuses.
A dear friend called me in a frenzy.
My friend, we'll call her Sarah, is 99 years old and lives with her 75-year-old special needs son, John. She has no other family to help her but, thankfully, she has a network of neighbors, friends and former students who pitch in as best they can.
Sarah was in tears when she called, and I could barely understand her. I thought at first that she had hurt herself or that something had happened to her son. Instead, it was what she had heard on TV – that Social Security was going to be eliminated.
"What are we going to do?" she sobbed. "What will John and I do?"
I tried to reassure her that Social Security isn't going to be eliminated, that the government is only talking about making some changes – to make it more efficient.
"No one is going to eliminate Social Security. Too many people depend on it, like you," I said. Sarah and her son are among an estimated 800,000 Oklahomans who rely on Social Security. The AARP estimates that for 22% of Oklahomans, Social Security is their primary retirement income.
Will Trump cut Social Security and Medicare? President needs to address voters' fears.
Sarah is a former teacher and still mentally sharp. But she doesn't see well or hear well. She doesn't have a cellphone or a laptop computer. She can't read a newspaper.
What she knows about what's going on in the world comes mostly from TV, and right now the big news stories are all about the government slashing being carried out by unelected billionaire businessman Elon Musk at the direction of President Donald Trump.
That day, on Sarah's favorite TV talk show, the guests had said there was no way Trump could honor all his election promises without big cuts to dozens of federal programs, including Social Security and Medicare.
I reminded her that the president has said himself that he has no intention to cut Social Security. He has said several times he wants to strengthen it – unfortunately usually as an off-hand comment, or in response to a question. He hasn't made a point of reassuring people like Sarah that they are safe.
I'm sure many others across the country also are having similar conversations with elderly people who are scared to death they are about to lose their Social Security lifeline. So are many others nearing retirement who have paid into the system for most of their lives.
But what do you say to reassure sick people who are involved in medical research trials for which funding may be cut? What do you say to small business owners who would lose everything if their costs jumped 15% or 25% because of new tariffs?
Congress needs to stand up for us. From Social Security to tariffs, they're silent.
Oklahomans have five members in the U.S. House of Representatives and two U.S. senators representing us in Congress. They are all Republicans who pushed hard for Donald Trump's reelection.
But since Day 1, when the president uncorked a torrent of executive orders and unleashed Musk, they have been mostly silent. They and other Republicans in Congress – who have majority power in both chambers – have done little to reassure people like Sarah that their Social Security benefits are safe. And they have not spoken out loudly for their constituents in other ways.
Oklahoma farmers, for example, were hurt by the tariffs imposed by Trump in his first term. Our delegation should be publicly advocating on their behalf and fighting to make sure that doesn't happen again. Instead, farmers are bracing for the brunt of Trump's tariffs in his trade war, including with our allies.
Unfortunately, even when Trump's administration makes a major error – like sharing plans for a bombing attack on Yemen on a commercial messaging app and accidentally including a journalist – our congressional members make lame excuses.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin called the series of messages "a thoughtful conversation," and Sen. James Lankford insisted that the information discussed was only "sensitive," not "classified."
Oklahoma voted for Trump and Republicans. Are they still on our side?
Oklahomans voted overwhelmingly for Trump and for the Republican members of Congress who were running in the last election. They believed that Republicans – more than the Democrats running against them – were on their side.
Since Trump took office, however, that's hard to discern.
The Oklahoma delegates might be banking on their tacit agreement with the Trump administration's actions to retain their positions in the next election. In the meantime, their lack of political courage heightens Oklahomans' anxiety about the potential impact of dramatic changes coming from the administration.
My friend Sarah worries not only about losing her Social Security. She worries about her son – whether Social Security benefits will still be available to help cover his living expenses when she's gone. News about thousands of Social Security Administration job cuts and offices closing across the country does nothing to reassure her and other fearful Oklahomans that their Social Security safety net isn't about to be yanked out from under them, or at least made harder to access.
Social Security recipients need to know someone is fighting for them. Right now, those elected to represent them seem more concerned with shoring up their own political ambitions. But elderly Oklahomans, especially, are banking on our congressional delegation to ensure that actions of the Trump administration are truly for the benefit of people needing support and assistance from government programs like Social Security.
William C. Wertz is deputy Viewpoints editor at The Oklahoman, where this column originally appeared. You can reach him at wwertz@oklahoman.com