“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law” (Appropriations Clause, Article I, Section 9, Clause 7, U.S. Constitution). Congress’s “Power of the Purse” means the President cannot spend money or authorize expenditures unless Congress has passed a specific law funding it (Congress.gov).
According to the Congressional Budget Office and the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the total federal debt held by Americans is on track to hit $40 trillion by the end of 2026. Currently every resident in America carries a $122,642 share of this debt.
When USA’s 48th president takes office on Jan. 20, 2029, the federal debt is projected to reach approximately $44-$45 trillion. Should this hold true, the publicly held debt will be 107% of gross domestic product. This will surpass the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in American history, which was set in 1946 immediately following the massive mobilization of World War II.
A significant portion of America’s debt is driven by long-term and mandatory spending, such as Social Security, Medicare and historically high net interest payments. Here’s the percentage increase of national debt for each of the last seven presidents: 188% for Reagan, 42% for G.H.W. Bush, 40% for Clinton, 101% for G.W. Bush, 88% for Obama, 40.3% for Trump 1.0 and 30.5% for Biden (us-debt-clock.com).
When Donald Trump leaves office in January 2029, the federal debt will be at least $44 trillion, an increase of 21.8% since Joe Biden’s presidency ended. The CBO and budget trackers note specific policy choices from the Trump 1.0 and 2.0 administrations have actively accelerated USA’s debt. The drivers of Donald Trump’s spending increases include:
1. The 2025 Reconciliation Act (One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act) will add a net $4.2 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years (CBO).
2. Recent CBO projections note that the administration’s immigration and enforcement actions added roughly $500 billion to projected long-term deficits (Feb. 11).
3. Arms Control Association reports Trump’s Iran War — not authorized by Congress — has already incurred more than $100 billion in direct military costs. President Trump has put forward an $88 billion supplemental war spending request to Congress in addition to his record $1 trillion military budget request.
4. President Trump’s 2.0 administration spent $10 billion of taxpayer money to buy equity stakes in 14 private and 14 publicly-held companies, in what the conservative Cato Institute identified as “creeping socialism” (Center for Strategic and International Studies, Feb. 12 and Cato Institute).
5. The White House east wing ballroom is projected to cost $500 million plus an additional $1 billion in security funding. Clark Construction has revealed that $293 million of the cost is being drawn from public funds (USA Today).