Trump plans to grow his way out of $40 trillion debt crisis—it’s a ‘fantastic story’ but virtually impossible, says top budget economist

"If you tell the debt markets: 'Hey, we think we're gonna be able to grow our way out of this,' and then a year later they're not seeing any improvements from that, then it's a credibility issue."

With Washington claiming that the United States can “grow” out of its mounting fiscal burdens, some economists are sceptical that growth alone could absorb the country’s mountain of national debt, which just surpassed US$40 trillion. The milestone, reached last week, has amplified concerns about the long-term sustainab

August 22, 2026 7:54 PM ET President Donald Trump on Saturday brushed off concerns about the debt crisis plaguing the United States — now surpassing $40 trillion — in favor of a Hail-Mary strategy of economic growth.“It’s been a problem for 35 years and what we have now that we’ve never had before… is we have tremendou