Trump Announces Temporary Spending Freeze

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday stated that a temporary freeze on certain discretionary spending, announced by his administration the previous day, was intended to allow the government to identify instances of improper spending.

> “As was explicitly stated, this in no way affected Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or other entitlements that Americans depend on,” Trump said at an event at the White House.

He added, “We are merely looking at parts of the big bureaucracy where there has been tremendous waste, fraud, and abuse.”

The pause has frozen $1.7 billion in payments to foreign organizations.