March 2016: Trump Said He Could Get Rid Of The National Debt In Eight Years. According to a transcript of an interview of Trump by Bob Woodward in the Washington Post, “TRUMP: You look at our military budget, it’s massive compared to any other country. But what are we doing? We’re taking care of the military needs of all these countries. And these countries are much richer than us. We’re not a rich country. We’re a debtor nation. We’ve got to get rid of — I talked about bubble. We’ve got to get rid of the $19 trillion in debt. WOODWARD: How long would that take? TRUMP: I think I could do it fairly quickly, because of the fact the numbers . . . .WOODWARD: What’s fairly quickly? TRUMP: Well, I would say over a period of eight years.” [Washington Post, 4/2/16]
July 2018: Trump Said The 2017 Tax Cuts Would “Start Paying Off That Debt Like Water.” According to the Associated Press, “Trump, in a Friday interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity's radio show, said the strong economy would help the U.S. reduce the deficit. ‘The economy, we can go a lot higher ... We have $21 trillion in debt. When this really kicks in we'll start paying off that debt like water. We'll start paying that debt down.’” [Associated Press, 7/28/18]
Under Trump, The U.S. Recorded The Largest Annual Deficit In Its History. According to FactCheck.org, “Trump left office almost four months after the U.S. recorded its largest annual deficit of $3.1 trillion in fiscal year 2020.” [FactCheck.org, 10/8/21]
The Percentage Growth Of The National Deficit Under Trump Was The Third Largest For Any Administration, Behind Lincoln And George W. Bush. According to ProPublica, “The growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third-biggest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration, according to a calculation by a leading Washington budget maven, Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. And unlike George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln, who oversaw the larger relative increases in deficits, Trump did not launch two foreign conflicts or have to pay for a civil war.” [ProPublica, 1/14/21]
Budget Deficits Under Trump Were Larger Than They Had Been Projected To Be At The Beginning Of His Administration. According to ProPublica, “That’s not how it played out. When Trump took office in January 2017, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office was projecting that federal budget deficits would be 2% to 3% of our gross domestic product during Trump’s term. Instead, the deficit reached nearly 4% of gross domestic product in 2018 and 4.6% in 2019.” [ProPublica, 1/14/21]
During The Trump Administration, The National Debt Grew By 50%, Or More Than $7 Trillion. According to FactCheck.org, “Rather, the amount the federal government has borrowed from the public went up by 50% during Trump’s time in office — from $14.4 trillion on the day he was inaugurated to $21.6 trillion the day his successor was sworn in.” [FactCheck.org, 10/8/21]
Debt As A Percentage Of The Economy Grew Under Trump By Almost 25%. According to FactCheck.org, “Likewise, the debt as a percentage of the economy also grew under Trump, rising from 76.2% of GDP in fiscal year 2016 to 100.1% of GDP in fiscal year 2020, according to figures from the Office of Management and Budget.” [FactCheck.org, 10/8/21]
Trump Signed Into Law Or Approved Via Executive Action More Spending In Four Years Than Obama Or George W. Bush Did In Eight. According to the Manhattan Institute, “President Trump signed legislation and approved executive actions costing $7.8 trillion over the decade—compared to $5.0 trillion for President Obama and $6.9 trillion for President Bush, and he enacted these costs in just a single four-year presidential term, compared to his predecessors’ eight years in the Oval Office. The largest drivers were pandemic relief legislation ($3.9 trillion), the 2017 tax cuts ($2.0 trillion), and legislation raising the discretionary spending caps ($1.6 trillion).” [Manhattan Institute, 5/12/22]
Trump’s Final Budget Proposal Was A Record $4.8 Trillion. According to the New York Times, “President Trump has proposed a record $4.8 trillion budget for the 2021 fiscal year, and while Congress decides what to fund, the document provides a window into the White House’s spending priorities.” [New York Times, 2/10/20]
Government Spending In Fiscal Year 2020 Was $6.5 Trillion, An Increase Of More Than $2 Trillion From The Prior Year. According to the Washington Post, “The deficit last year was about $1 trillion, which represented an elevated level but pales in comparison with this year’s tally. For 2020, the government spent $6.552 trillion, up from $4.447 trillion one year ago, according to the data released jointly by the White House and the Treasury Department. The government brought in $3.420 trillion in tax revenue this year, a slight decrease from 2019.” [Washington Post, 10/16/20]