During a rambling and often incoherent interview Monday morning on CNBC’s Squawk Box, former president and presumptive 2024 nominee Donald Trump made big news when he admitted he would cut Social Security and Medicare if he is reelected.

When he was president, Trump repeatedly included cuts to Social Security and Medicare in his official budget proposals, breaking promises he had made during his 2016 campaign, and in 2020 he first proposed to zero out and then permanently eliminate the payroll tax that finances these programs. However, mainstream media outlets have frequently fallen for Trump’s campaign spin that he is different from other Republicans in supporting these programs and defending them against cuts.

This pattern is reminiscent of the media prophecies that Trump would pivot from his dangerous and offensive campaign rhetoric and display a “new tone,” a shell game that continues to this day.

Trump’s latest comments came in an exchange with friendly CNBC host Joe Kernen:

Throughout the Republican primary season, media outlets have carried Trump’s water by credulously repeating his claim that Republicans should not cut “a single penny” from Social Security and Medicare. Occasionally those reports mentioned the cuts he proposed as president — but only buried many paragraphs into the piece.

• Two months ago, The New York Times claimed a Biden campaign social media post about Trump’s 2020 proposal to cut Social Security and Medicare was “misleading.” Instead, the Times said that “while Mr. Trump has in the past suggested he might entertain trims to entitlements, he has repeatedly vowed during his campaign to protect the programs.” [The New York Times, 1/6/24]

• During the Republican primary campaign, The Washington Post falsely credited Trump with “a break from GOP orthodoxy that has shifted the party’s views” because of his pledges to maintain the two popular retirement programs. The Post also falsely claimed that “GOP policymakers have followed the former president’s lead in steering clear of proposals to cut the program.” In fact, just weeks earlier the Republican Study Committee unveiled its 2024 budget proposal, which suggested so-called “program savings” could be achieved by reducing future Social Security benefits and restricting access for current workers “who are not near retirement.” The RSC also proposed other changes to limit the Social Security Disability Insurance program. [The Washington Post, 7/22/23; Republican Study Committee, Fiscal Year 2024 Budget; Center for American Progress, 9/22/23]

• Politico declared that “Trump clearly sees a promise to leave Medicare and Social Security alone as a winning message,” while burying his past proposed cuts far down in the piece. In the 22nd paragraph, the article admitted: “Notably, Trump’s past budgets haven’t exactly aligned with his argument against cutting entitlements. His fiscal 2021 budget, for example, sought steep safety net cuts, including tens of billions of dollars in reductions to Social Security benefits for disabled workers.” [Politico, 3/1/23]

• CBS News declared that “entitlement reforms could set Republicans apart” in the primary race, highlighting Trump’s attacks on Ron DeSantis. CBS eventually included in the 11th paragraph that Trump had proposed in 2020 to eliminate payroll taxes, “which fund Social Security and in part Medicare.” [CBS News, 3/1/23]

• Reuters claimed, “Trump's call to protect the two single largest federal spending programs could put him at odds with some House Republicans.” No such Republican schism exists in real life. [Reuters, 1/20/23]

Trump also made a number of other claims about the economy during the course of his wide-ranging interview, several of which are not only false but also easily disproved:

• Trump claimed that when he was president, “we were going to be paying down debt. We were doing — we were doing a lot of things. And then we got hit with COVID.” In fact, Trump had already increased the national debt before the pandemic hit, with policies such as his tax cuts for the wealthy that immediately reduced federal revenues and have since added more than $100 billion a year to the federal deficit. Trump infamously promised during the 2016 presidential campaign that he would simultaneously pay down the national debt while cutting taxes for the rich, as if by magic.

• In a rant that ought to remind viewers of the conspiracy theories Trump peddled during the 2016 campaign, when he wildly exaggerated the unemployment rate, Trump both exaggerated the official inflation numbers and claimed with zero evidence that the real numbers should be even higher. “They say 32 and 33%,” he said. “I believe we have a cumulative inflation of over 50%.” The total cumulative inflation over the past three years, as the economy went through supply-chain disruptions from the pandemic, has added up to 17.9%, almost half of what Trump claimed “they say” it was. Inflation is now also down to 3.1% and is expected to continue falling this year.

• Trump claimed that his proposed 10% tariff would not be inflationary, and when presented with an analysis from the right-leaning American Action Forum highlighting the “broad negative consequences” of Trump’s tariff policy, he simply dismissed the experts, stating, “Well, they're wrong.” In fact, liberal and conservative economists agree that Trump’s tariff proposal is inflationary and would raise prices for consumers.