Donald Trump is very proud that he knows how to run up a tab. He knows how to trick investors into pouring additional money into failing companies. He knows how stiff contractors on his building projects. He knows how to cheat his own charity. And he knows that when he’s far enough down a hole, he can threaten everyone else who worries about the ground caving in.
“King of Debt” isn’t a sobriquet someone else is trying to hang around Trump’s neck. This is a name he’s invented for himself. He wears it proudly. And as it turns out, if Trump gets elected, we’ll all get plenty of experience with debt.
Donald Trump’s tax and spending proposals would greatly increase the national debt over the next 10 years, while Hillary Clinton’s combination of new revenue and new spending would have a nearly negligible effect on the country’s $14 trillion debt, according to a study released Sunday.
Under the plan put forward by Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, the U.S. debt would grow to 127% of the entire economy, up from 75% today, according to the analysis by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which advocates bringing down the national debt.
Every single time he gets a chance to open his mouth—which is painfully often—Donald Trump demonstrates that he doesn’t understand how government works. He’s absolutely unable to differentiate between his role as a real estate swindler professional and the leader of a sovereign state. Economy in freefall? Hey, take a Trump vacation!
He’s also demonstrated that simple math is not his strong suit, as he seems to believe a severe (and severely convenient) version of “trickle down” in which gifting people in his own tax bracket with trillions of dollars will result in a big win for everyone. It’s the kind of idea you’d expect from someone who spent a big chunk of their life trying to get people to waste a dollar in a slot machine—a dream of wealth from something you know is designed to cost you money. And it’s exactly the sort of results you’d expect from someone who went broke selling that dream.
Mr. Trump has suggested reducing tax rates for households and corporations while also repealing the estate tax and expanding deductions. Those changes would add about $9.25 trillion to the debt, CRFB found. New spending for veterans’ health care would add another $500 billion, while his proposed crackdown on immigration and his health-care proposals—including repealing the 2010 health-care overhaul— would add another $100 billion, the group estimates. Overall, Mr. Trump would increase the national debt by $11.5 trillion, the report found.
But then we make someone else pay for it. In Trump’s mind, there’s always someone else that can pay.