Former US President Joe Biden speaks at the Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled conference in Chicago on April 15, 2025. Photo: VCG

US Former President Joe Biden offered his first public critique of President Donald Trump's second term Tuesday, painting the Trump administration' s handling of the Social Security Administration as destructive, according to the CNN news on Tuesday local time.

A Chinese expert told the Global Times on Wednesday that the current turmoil and division within the US politics have become increasingly severe. The Social Security system, once enjoyed bipartisan consensus, has now become a political battleground.

"Look what's happened now. Fewer than 100 days, this new administration has made so - done so much damage and so much destruction. It's kind of breathtaking it could happen that soon," the former president said in his first public remarks since leaving office earlier this year, CNN reported.

Biden highlighted his administration's efforts to cut Social Security fraud, and mocked claims by the Trump administration that scores of implausibly old people are collecting payments, CBS reported the same day.

"By the way, those 300-year-old folks getting that Social Security, I want to meet them," Biden joke. "Hell of a thing, man. I'm looking for longevity."

According to AP in February, Trump said on social media and in press briefings that people who are 100, 200 and even 300 years old are improperly getting benefits.

Former leaders' increasingly harsh criticism of the current administration reflects the deepening polarization of US domestic politics, Lü Xiang, a US affairs expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Biden's speech came as many Democrats stage a national day of action against potential cuts to the program, with protests planned across the country, CNN noted.

The New York Times reported that some Democratic lawmakers have expressed dissatisfaction with the current trade policies. When pressed by NBC's Kristen Welker, Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, said, "I just want to, for myself, tell you a full-throated, unequivocal condemnation of the Trump tariffs," blaming the trade barriers for roiling the economy and tanking Americans' savings. "It is all just wrong. It should be condemned," he added.

Ray Dalio, the founder of the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, said on Sunday that he is "worried about something worse than a recession." "I think that right now we are at a decision-making point and very close to a recession," Dalio said on NBC News' Meet the Press. "And I'm worried about something worse than a recession if this isn't handled well."

Dalio was responding to a question from moderator Kristen Welker about whether the US would be likely to dip into a recession because of current US administration's tariff policies.

The current series of policies has surprised American politicians, as well as financial experts, Lü said, further noting that the unchecked imposition of tariffs has surpassed the effective limit, harming not only partner nations and the global trade order, but also the US economy itself.

Lü noted that concerns extend beyond Dalio. "We can also see concerns from American business leaders like Warren Buffett."

"Tariffs will not solve the economic problems the US is facing. Instead, they will only trigger economic decline in the US," he added.