Trump’s Debt Diet Is Working
Nicole Huyer | January 21, 2026
The Daily Signal
**If there’s anything Republicans and Democrats can agree on,
it’s how to spend money. Both parties created the federal budget
deficit and contributed to the looming $38 trillion national debt,
but President Donald Trump’s administration is actively working
to close it.
Since the budget is essentially financed by taxpayers,
closing the gap means reduced borrowing and interest payments,
lower national debt, and boosted long-term economic growth all
Americans can feel.
The Monthly Treasury Statement highlights fiscal year 2025,
in which the federal government spent over $7 trillion in outlays
and generated $5.2 trillion in receipts. Despite including
President Joe Biden’s last four months in office, the budget
deficit of approximately $1.8 trillion was still down 2% from
fiscal year 2024.
Early data for fiscal year 2026 (October to December 2025)
shows further fiscal responsibility. The cumulative deficit of
$602 billion is approximately 15% lower than the same period in
fiscal year 2025.
The deficit’s closure—or at least slowed rate of growth—under
the Trump administration, can be attributed to a combination of
receipt (revenue) increases and targeted outlay (spending)
reductions.
Tariffs are a sure method to generate federal government
receipts which drove the deficit down. Beating economists’ pro-
jections, tariff revenue soared to nearly $200 billion in Trump’s
first year of his second term.
In just the last three months, custom duties boasted $90
billion—an increase of over 330% from the comparable prior period.
These tariffs targeted communist Chinese imports—among others—
allowing the U.S. to decouple from the Asian giant and boosting
government income amid broader economic growth.
Individual income tax revenue surged as wage increases out-
paced inflation. These receipts rose from $518 billion in fiscal
year 2025 to $606 billion in fiscal year 2026 (17% growth), which
contributed to a shrinking deficit. And with Trump’s “One Big,
Beautiful Bill” tax cuts taking effect in 2026, Americans can
expect to feel greater financial relief.
On the spending side, budget outlays contracted from the
previous period. In an unprecedented opportunity created by the
Democrat-engineered October government shutdown, Trump and his
team worked hard to cut waste, fraud, and abuse.
Trump axed thousands of unnecessary government workers and
programs, a decision that contributed massively to efficiency and
fiscal savings. Partnering with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent,
the two oversaw financial reallocation and halted billions in
wasteful programs.
Office of Budget and Management Director Russell Vought made
substantial Reductions in Force (RIFs) in health, education,
environment, and other agencies with unfavorable political agendas
—cutting spending and saving taxpayers billions.
For example, federal outlays for the Department of Agriculture
fell by 18%, the Department of Education by 26%, the Environmental
Protection Agency by 81%, and International Assistance Programs
by 82%.
Shrinking the public sector tackles the affordability crisis
created by the fiscally undisciplined Biden administration. Four
years of prices rising faster than wages and inflation reaching
40-year highs encouraged voters to elect Trump who promised to
balance the budget—and not just in rhetoric, but in decisive action.
The combination of reducing Treasury outlays and increasing
receipts reduces the budget deficit and may lead to lower inflation,
stabilized prices, and supply side private sector growth—all of
which will usher in a golden era of affordability for Americans.
Biden is certainly responsible for the economic woes felt by
voters today, but Trump continues to make meaningful progress in
reducing stubbornly high prices.
In a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report, overall, the
12-month adjusted consumer price index estimated 2.7%. Core infla-
tion fell to a remarkable 2.6%, the lowest since March 2021, with
price reductions driven by gains across most grocery groups, used
vehicles, gasoline, communications, and energy.
With data reflecting broader disinflationary trends, further
cooling may even influence the Federal Reserve to cut rates, making
the cost of borrowing cheaper and interest on credit cards or loans
lower.
So long as regulations continue to be cut, tax rates are
reduced, brakes are put on government spending, and government
revenue is generated in a sustainable manner, there’s hope for the
American taxpayer.
Rather than feed the government machine and widen the federal
budget deficit, Trump is putting Washington on a diet, eating
inflation, and cooking up a private sector boom—the real drivers
of economic expansion which will provide relief to all Americans.**
Since Trump took his seat back, he's battled corrupt liberals
but still has lowered oil to less than $100 a barrel, and he has
made big strides in lowering the price of many things aside from
things that have to be bought from China and other Socialist style
nations. The housing market has slumped just like many other items
but Trump told us prices will rise and fall until he gets the stock
market settles and interest rate go down since Powell is no longer
running the FED.
We were told it will take months but he has ended 8 wars, gas
is 50 to 80 cents less but for some reasons Democrats want to go
back to the rampant inflation they left him with.
With God's grace and faith you will learn that without Him
you will be crushed by liberal plans to socialize America.
Pray that God hears our prayers and the American Dream gets
new life.
Conservatively,
John
Conservativelyjohn.com 