[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-565443-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":80,"doc-detail-565443-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","donald-trump-built-a-national-debt-so-big-even-before-the-pandemic-that-itll-weigh-down-the-economy-for-years-propublica","Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years - ProPublica","","ProPublica reports that President Donald Trump’s administration fueled a rapid rise in the U.S. national debt even before the COVID-19 era, contrary to promises to reduce it. The article states the debt reached its highest level relative to the economy since World War II and notes sharp growth in deficits tied to the 2017 tax cuts and limited spending restraint. It also contrasts prior claims about tariff-driven debt repayment with projections from the Congressional Budget Office.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/","Template",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/general/","General",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/donald-trump-built-a-national-debt-so-big-even-before-the-pandemic-that-itll-weigh-down-the-economy-for-years-propublica/565443/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/donald-trump-built-a-national-debt-so-big-even-before-the-pandemic-that-itll-weigh-down-the-economy-for-years-propublica/565443.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Mary Man","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-26","2026-10-13",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What does the article say about Trump’s national debt record before COVID-19?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"It says the national debt rose dramatically during Trump’s time in office, reaching its highest level relative to the U.S. economy since World War II even before the pandemic.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"According to the article, what factors helped push deficits and debt higher?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"It points to the 2017 tax cuts and the lack of serious spending restraint, which increased deficits and accelerated the growth of the debt.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"How does the article address Trump’s claims about paying down debt using economic growth and tariffs?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"It contrasts those claims with projections and outcomes, noting that deficits grew instead of falling and that tariff-related expectations did not eliminate the budget deficit.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},565443,1792524702,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,88,93,98,103,108,113,118,123],{"id":84,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},11,"Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":89,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":90,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":92},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":94,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":99,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":104,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":109,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":114,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":119,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":124,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":125},158,"general-158",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":127},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":128,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":22,"category_id":124,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":33,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":135,"language":136,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":137,"faqs":138,"seo_title":139,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":140,"read_time":30},7421720224475,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","2/ 10/25 , 12:46 PM Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years—ProPublica  \n[https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump](https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump) 1/9  \n2/ 10/25 , 12:46 PM Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years—ProPublica  \nAbove: President Donald Trump promised to reduce the national debt but instead increased it. It is  \nnow at its highest level relative to the U.S. economy since the end of World War II. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)  \nProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses ofpower. Sign up to receive  \nour biggest stories as soon as they’republished.  \nThis story was co-published with The Washington Post.  \nOne of President Donald Trump’s lesser known but profoundly damaging  \nlegacies will be the explosive rise in the national debt that occurred on his  \nwatch. The financial burden that he’s inflicted on our government will  \nwreak havoc for decades, saddling our kids and grandkids with debt.  \nThe national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in  \noffice. That’s nearly twice as much as what Americans owe on student  \nloans, car loans, credit cards and every other type of debt other than  \nmortgages, combined, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of  \nNew York. It amounts to about $23,500 in new federal debt for every  \nperson in the country.  \nThe growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third-biggest  \nincrease, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential  \nadministration, according to a calculation by a leading Washington budget  \nmaven, Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy  \nCenter. And unlike George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln, who oversaw  \nthe larger relative increases in deficits, Trump did not launch two foreign  \nconflicts or have to pay for a civil war.  \n[https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump](https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump) 2/9  \n2/ 10/25 , 12:46 PM Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years—ProPublica  \nThe National Debt Increased Under Trump Despite His Promise to  \nReduce It  \nDaily total national debt from 2009 to present.  \nSource: U.S. Treasury (Lena V. Groeger/ProPublica)  \nEconomists agree that we needed massive deficit spending during the  \nCOVID-19 crisis to ward off an economic cataclysm, but federal finances  \nunder Trump had become dire even before the pandemic. That happened  \neven though the economy was booming and unemployment was at  \nhistorically low levels. By the Trump administration’s own description, the  \npre-pandemic national debt level was already a “crisis” and a “grave  \nthreat.”  \nThe combination of Trump’s 2017 tax cut and the lack of any serious  \nspending restraint helped both the deficit and the debt soar. So when the  \nonce-in-a-lifetime viral disaster slammed our country and we threw more  \nthan $3 trillion into COVID-19-related stimulus, there was no longer any  \nmargin for error.  \nOur national debt has reached immense levels relative to our economy,  \nnearly as high as it was at the end of World War II. But unlike 75 years ago,  \nthe massive financial overhang from Medicare and Social Security will  \nmake it dramatically more difficult to dig ourselves out of the debt ditch.  \n[https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump](https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump) 3/9  \n2/ 10/25 , 12:46 PM Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years—ProPublica  \nThe Debt to GDP Ratio Is the Highest It's Been Since WorldWar II  \nFederal debt held by the public as a percentage of gross domestic product since 1900.  \nSource: Congressional Budget Office (Lena V. Groeger/ProPublica)  \nFalling deeper into th","cbCaiqSXJ5yMuvMj","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqSXJ5yMuvMj","pdf",705741,9,"English","# The debt rises despite promises\n## Pre-pandemic debt and growing deficits\n## Tax cuts and lack of spending restraint\n## Tariffs vs. debt repayment predictions","[{\"question\":\"What does the article say about Trump’s national debt record before COVID-19?\",\"answer\":\"It says the national debt rose dramatically during Trump’s time in office, reaching its highest level relative to the U.S. economy since World War II even before the pandemic.\"},{\"question\":\"According to the article, what factors helped push deficits and debt higher?\",\"answer\":\"It points to the 2017 tax cuts and the lack of serious spending restraint, which increased deficits and accelerated the growth of the debt.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article address Trump’s claims about paying down debt using economic growth and tariffs?\",\"answer\":\"It contrasts those claims with projections and outcomes, noting that deficits grew instead of falling and that tariff-related expectations did not eliminate the budget deficit.\"}]","Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years - ProPublica | PDF",1791853819]