Trump promised to eliminate the deficit within 8 years. It would take until 2035 under his new budget proposal.
- Red ink would continue to flow for another decade and a half under the latest White House budget proposal.
- That would undermine a longtime campaign pledge for President Donald Trump and a traditional talking point for the Republican party.
- While Trump vowed to pay off the now $22 trillion national debt within eight years, it has continued to climb to historic highs.
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Red ink would continue to flow for another decade and a half under the latest White House budget proposal, undermining a longtime campaign pledge for President Donald Trump and a traditional talking point for the Republican party.
On the 2016 campaign trail, Trump vowed to pay off the now $22 trillion national debt within eight years. But administration officials estimate the gap between expenditures and revenue will continue through 2035 under a budget proposal set for release Monday.
The proposal for fiscal 2021 is unlikely to become official and would instead serve as a blueprint for spending negotiations with Congress if Trump wins re-election in November. It is scheduled for release at 12:30 p.m. ET, according to an official at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The White House is expected to call for increases to the military budget and cuts to foreign aid and some domestic programs, including safety net programs such as Medicaid and food stamps. Over the past three years, bipartisan spending sprees and GOP-led tax cuts have added trillions to the deficit.
After the financial crisis, Republicans expressed deep concerns about deficit-related risks and demanded more fiscal discipline in Washington. But the party has increasingly embraced red ink in the Trump era, while the influence of budget hawks has waned.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected in its latest report that the budget deficit would surpass $1 trillion this fiscal year, the first time it has breached that level since post-crisis stimulus measures were in effect in 2012.
The increases come despite a solid economy, alarming experts because deficits typically fall during periods of growth.