The US budget deficit has topped $1 trillion so far this year - and it's expected to surge to more than double that within a decade
- The US Treasury announced on Thursday that the US deficit topped $1 trillion for the first time since 2012.
- The deficit stood at $1.067 trillion for the first 11 months of this year, which marks a 19% increase on this time last year.
- America's government debt has widened during the course of Trump's presidency, due to tax cuts in 2017 and increased government spending.
- Trump during his election campaign said that he would eliminate government debt.
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The US Treasury announced on Thursday that the country's deficit had widened to $1.067 trillion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year - the largest it's been in seven years.
The figure itself marks a 19% increase on this time last year but also contrasts the fact Trump during his election campaign said he would eliminate government debt. Instead, government borrowing has increased during his presidency, expected to top $1 trillion for the second year running.
During his election campaign, Trump told the Washington Post that he promised within eight years to get rid of government debt, which at the time was about $19 trillion. He told the Post he would do so by renegotiating trade deals.
The deficit is the difference in the amount spent by the government on things like defence, social security and medicare, and the amount collected via taxes and other means. The shortfall is then funded via borrowing.
The last time America's deficit had reached this level was in 2012, at $1.16 trillion, according to the Wall Street Journal. That's when America was pulling itself out of a financial crisis.
The report from the Treasury Department said there was a 7% increase in government spending, including on defense, totaling $4.1 trillion, compared to the $3.1 trillion collected in tax receipts.
During Trump's presidency, government spending has increased massively while in 2017 the president announced wide-ranging tax cuts, limiting the amount of money brought into the government.
The debt pile is estimated to get bigger at the current spending to tax ratio rate. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan public policy organization that looks at federal budget and fiscal issues, estimates that the debt level could reach record levels by 2028, topping $2 trillion.
The deficit may not yet top $1 trillion for the full fiscal year as spending often drops in September.
