Trump just told Congress: if you steal from Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security, probation is over. Prison. And the more you steal, the longer you stay. Get caught a second time, and your sentence doubles.
The message came in a video Saturday, recorded from behind the desk in the Oval Office — nearly two minutes, straight to camera. "Under our proposal, probation is no longer an option for the fraudsters," he said. "If you steal from the American people, you will go to prison and for a long period of time. And the more you steal, the longer you'll stay in that prison."
He also wants state and local officials who know about fraud, have the power to stop it, and do nothing to pay taxpayers back themselves — personally liable for the full loss of the money they should have stopped and saved.
This is not coming out of nowhere. His administration's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud says it has uncovered nearly $230 billion in fraud, stopped $56 billion in fraudulent payments before they reached criminals, and enforced more than $55 billion through indictments and settlements. Medicare's own enforcers suspended $5.7 billion in suspect payments last year, and in June the Justice Department charged 455 defendants — including 90 doctors — over $6.5 billion in false claims.
This is not law yet. Congress still has to pass it. But the warning is already out, in his closing words: "From now on, fraudsters, we're watching you."