Donald Trump has failed to keep campaign pledge to erase national debt
The damn gop is morally opposed to excessive government spending and exoanding the national debt until they have power and then they go full blown fiscally irresponsible every time. Trump has accumulated more debt faster than any President in history.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Analysts point to several reasons for the jump, including his tax cuts in 2017 and the federal response to the economic fallout from the pandemic.
Ledyard King, USA TODAY
Donald Trump ran for president as an outsider decrying the mounting national debt, which had surged under Barack Obama as he guided the nation out of a deep recession and implemented his health care programs.
"We can't send another politician to the White House," Trump tweeted on July 24, 2015, a few weeks after he announced his candidacy for the presidency.
Several months before the 2016 election, Trump pledged he would be able to eliminate the national debt - then around $19 trillion - "over a period of eight years."
In an interview with the Washington Post, the future president said that his plan to renegotiate trade deals with foreign countries would create surpluses that would help draw down the debt.
DC has shrunk our military and exploded our country with debt. We can't send another politician to the White House https://t.co/u25yI6aIvG
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2015
A few weeks later, Trump backpedaled a bit, telling Fortune magazine he would reduce some - but not all - of the debt because he wanted to spend on his priorities.
"It depends on how aggressive you want to be," Trump told Fortune. "I'd rather not be so aggressive. Don't forget: We have to rebuild the infrastructure of our country. We have to rebuild our military, which is being decimated by bad decisions. We have to do a lot of things."
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton butted heads at Wednesday night's debate over who could best lower the US national debt. (Oct. 19) AP
During a debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton two weeks before the election, Trump dismissed projections from economists that his proposals would actually expand the nation's debt by saying the economic growth they would create would enable a reduction of the debt.
On Trump's first day in office (Jan. 20, 2017), the total U.S. debt stood at $19.95 trillion, up from the 11.9 trillion when Barack Obama was sworn in eight years earlier. As of Oct. 14, the debt under Trump had mushroomed to $27.1 trillion.
President Donald Trump talks with former President Barack Obama on Capitol Hill in Washington, prior to Obama's departure to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland on Jan. 20, 2017.Rob Carr, AP
Some analysts look solely at publicly held debt (so not including U.S. securities held by federal agencies). That has risen sharply as well, from $14.4 trillion when Trump took office to $20.5 trillion at the end of June.
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Analysts point to several reasons for the jump, including his tax cuts passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in 2017 and the bipartisan response this year to help individuals and small businesses weather the economic devastation from the coronavirus pandemic.
If Trump wins a second term, he would have another four years to work on debt reduction. But it would be impossible to "eliminate" the debt within the next four years given its size, especially when the president is urging Congress to "Go big" on the next round of stimulus relief.
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SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE - Gohmer Pyle USMC
Well, eliminating US debt is complicated. Half way through the process you must balloon it by a third, but by the end of the process it will magically go away, like the coronavirus - provided of course that the election isn’t stolen from Trump.
Other than that, how are we enjoying this recession?
Ever notice all gop administrations leave recession?
Ever notice all gop administrations leave recession?
... and richer than when they were sworn in.
That can be said of the majority of politicians NOT just the GOP
Nope, just the gop
Look at every single one of them. EVERY one. You are sadly mistaken. Here is a sampling........
Nope, just the gop.
Trump's and the gop's fiscal irresponsibility have grown our natoonal debt up over 30% in less than four years during times of economic growth and a good economy which goes against every precept of fiscal diligence...
Just about every president for the last 50 years or so has made the same promise. Not a one of them did it either. It is a standard promise to get elected President by both Republicans and Democrats that nobody believes or takes seriously anymore. Disingenuous as usual of the left to now try to hang this solely on Trump.
Yep. There is always hope that somehow it will come to fruition however, once they get to DC all that idealistic promising goes out the window forced by reality.
Amazing that this article just bashes while not considering the pandemic and the fact we had to add, and still will more than likely, trillions to try and get through this. All the while the Dems want $500billion more to the proposed $1.9 trillion by the GOP. And who has those purse strings?
U.S Deficit spending climbed every year under Trump even before Covid...
Decreasing taxes while increasing military spending (the biggest discretionary general fund line item) tends to do that...
Few people other than Trump have said they would eliminate the debt - the idea at paying off the debt in four years when U.S. debt is equal to the entire national GDP is kind of ludicrous. The most rational politicians usually campaign on is reducing the deficit and beginning to pay down the debt. Clinton and Obama both reduced annual deficits over the course of their terms - though Obama's deficit reductions are somewhat skewed - since his first year budget was ballooned by recovery spending.
Trump is ludicrous which explains his lying...
You can't erase the debt if you gave all the money to the top 1% in tax cuts. You can't erase the debt if you spend on a wall that in reality hasn't been built, is falling down and is suffering a corruption case involving Steve Bannon who also pushed the grift that Trump is pushing. Trump took money marked for Veterans to dump into a "wall fund" even though that has never materialized. You can't erase the debt if every Covid recovery package funnels more money upward that never TRICKLES DOWN or doesn't go into the hands of Americans who desperately need the money and will spend it fueling the economy. The GOP has NEVER, NEVER, NEVER cared one bit about the "debt", they happily spend like the proverbial drunken sailor when they have a Bush or Trump in office. Anything to create an economic disaster they blame on Dems.