Chatham House
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Amid soaring US debt, can Trump balance fiscal challenges with campaign promises?
EXPERT COMMENT
How Trump and Congress address looming fiscal challenges will have far-reaching consequences that could affect the foundations of US economic power.
President Trump’s second term begins with a series of fiscal hurdles that will shape the trajectory of the US economy. These include avoiding a government shutdown, preventing a default on US sovereign debt and extending his 2017 tax cuts – each connected to managing America’s ballooning national debt. Failure to adequately deal with any of these issues could have enduring political and economic consequences.
Trump inherits a strong economy, with the US pandemic recovery outpacing that of other advanced economies across inflation, productivity and growth measures. But beneath this surface lies a troubling fiscal reality. At over $36 trillion – over six times its 2001 level – the national debt is on an unsustainable trajectory, with the debt-to-GDP ratio poised to hit record heights under Trump’s second term.
Click here to continue reading the full version of this Expert Comment on the Chatham House website.
Original article link: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/01/amid-soaring-us-debt-can-trump-balance-fiscal-challenges-campaign-promises
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