Trump Dodged My Question About the Federal Debt

The national debt held by the public tops $27 trillion. It's bigger than the entire American economy—and it's on track to grow faster and faster. In just four years, Donald Trump signed legislation that increased future debt by $7.8 trillion, more than George W. Bush and Barack Obama managed in eight years apiece. We're headed for an economic catastrophe.

So when Trump made an appearance late last week at PubKey, a bitcoin-themed bar in New York's Greenwich Village, Reason's Nick Gillespie went down to ask him about it. And he had a snappy comeback.

Less than half of Trump's new debt was related to pandemic spending. And the COVID-19 relief bill establishing the Paycheck Protection Program, which Trump signed in 2020, was so rife with corruption and waste that one federal prosecutor has called it the "biggest fraud in a generation."And get this: His new campaign proposals would add another $5.8 trillion to the debt. Trump has called himself the "king of debt." If he gets a second term, he just might become its emperor.

• Video Editor: Cody Huff
• Graphics: Adani Samat