Trump’s Spending Spree Pushes Federal Debt to New Highs in July

This summer has not been pretty for the government’s balance sheet. As many Republicans before him, the Trump administration is spending way too much money, and new debt numbers prove it.

The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.

During a July 20 interview, on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made an unbelievable claim. He bragged that the US was collecting close to $30 billion a month in tariffs. He then went on to say: “You got to remember — this is going to pay off our deficit.”

No one who pays attention to federal fiscal policy actually believed this statement. And, if there was any doubt about the dubious claim, July’s Treasury report, released on Tuesday, makes it clear just how wrong Lutnick is. According to the July report, federal deficits are a long way from being paid off by new taxes on imports. Instead, federal deficits are getting bigger as Trump’s spending spree shows no signs of abating.