Donald Trump’s political career was built on several myths. When it comes to the economy, Trump perpetuated the myth that he was a president who could grow the economy. The reality is that Trump spent his first term riding the steam of the Obama economy, and his second administration has debunked that part of his mythology.
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Trump has also claimed to be motivated to reduce waste in government, but his budget proposal is loaded with outdated and wasteful spending for the Pentagon.
Trump has also claimed to be fiscally conservative, but his willingness to add debt and explode the deficit tells a different story.
The Center For A Responsible Federal Budget reviewed Trump’s proposal and found:
The budget proposes to increase total defense funding to $1.5 trillion for fiscal year 2027 – including $350 billion in funding in a new reconciliation bill and a $251 billion increase in base defense discretionary spending – partially offset by a purported $73 billion (10%) reduction in non-defense base discretionary spending.
The budget does not include any official fiscal figures, but using its supplemental materials, we estimate that the budget plans to reduce the debt to about 94% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2036 – up from 120% of GDP in the Congressional Budget Office’s most recent benchmark – largely by assuming average annual real GDP growth of 3% over the decade.
The Trump budget relies on sunny growth projections that are not supported by reality, but that’s not the worst part.