The Debt Delusion
How Trump’s “Waste and Fraud” Promises Will Make Things Worse
Donald Trump has a simple-sounding solution to America’s rising debt: cut “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
It’s a line that plays well on campaign stages. Who wouldn’t want to eliminate waste? Who supports fraud?
But in reality, this promise is pure political theater — and a dangerous distraction from the real drivers of America’s fiscal challenges. Worse, Trump’s actual policies have already shown that cutting “waste” isn’t enough — and that his fiscal plans are more likely to grow the national debt, not shrink it.
The Myth of Easy Savings
Every politician talks about rooting out government inefficiency. But experts across the political spectrum agree:
“Waste, fraud, and abuse” account for only a tiny fraction of federal spending.
Even aggressive anti-fraud efforts would barely move the needle on the $34+ trillion national debt.
The vast majority of the federal budget goes to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense spending, and interest on the debt — not duplicative office supplies or misfiled paperwork.
You can’t fix the federal budget with the equivalent of finding pennies in the couch cushions.
Hard choices — about taxes, healthcare costs, defense spending, and entitlement reform — are where the real math happens. And those are the choices Trump and his allies continue to dodge.
Trump’s First-Term Record: Bigger Deficits, Higher Debt
In 2016, Trump vowed not only to eliminate the deficit but to wipe out the national debt entirely within eight years.
Instead:
By the end of his first three years (pre-COVID), the national debt had increased by 16%.
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — Trump’s signature legislation — added $1.9 trillion to the debt over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Even during strong economic growth, the annual federal deficit ballooned to nearly $1 trillion by 2019 — a dangerous sign, since deficits are supposed to shrink during good times.
The Trump tax cuts were sold as self-financing through higher growth. That growth bump never materialized. Instead, tax revenue fell, and the government borrowed more.
Trump didn’t tame the debt. He accelerated it.
The Real Impact of “Cutting Waste”
When politicians do get serious about budget cuts, it’s rarely actual waste that gets slashed. It’s programs that help working Americans:
Medicaid oversight programs that detect billing fraud? Cut.
IRS enforcement that catches wealthy tax cheats? Cut.
Education, housing, and food security programs? Cut.
Meanwhile, defense spending (which accounts for more than half of discretionary spending) often increases — and Trump’s 2025 budget proposals reportedly plan major hikes【source: Axios】.
In short:
“Cutting waste” often means hurting the most vulnerable, while leaving massive expenditures untouched.
It doesn’t address the structural imbalance caused by tax cuts and rising healthcare and retirement costs.
It risks hollowing out public services that millions of Americans depend on.
And it won’t balance the budget — not even close.
A Future of Higher Debt and Less Security
If Trump follows the same path in a second term — more tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, combined with vague promises of efficiency — the debt will almost certainly continue to climb.
And as debt grows:
Interest payments will consume a larger share of the budget.
Pressure to cut Social Security and Medicare will increase.
Economic growth could slow under the weight of rising borrowing costs.
In other words: the people Trump promises to protect — working-class Americans, retirees, veterans — are the ones who will pay the price.
The Hard Truth: Fiscal Responsibility Requires Real Choices
The U.S. can stabilize its finances — but not with magical thinking.
Real solutions involve:
Fairer tax policy that ensures corporations and billionaires pay their share.
Smart investments in healthcare and education to grow the economy long-term.
Careful reforms to major entitlement programs, balancing sustainability with protection.
Empty slogans about “waste and fraud” won’t save America from a future of rising debt and diminished prosperity.
Only honest leadership and serious policy will.
Up Next
The pattern is clear: false promises, real harm.
Finally, we’ll step back and look at the bigger picture — the choice America faces in the critical years ahead.