In his first full year in office President Trump[1] oversaw a massive surge in the federal deficit, which grew $113 billion, up 17 percent, according to the final numbers released Monday by the Treasury Department.
And that’s actually the good news.
If not for some shifts in payments, the deficit would have leapt $162 billion, or nearly 25 percent in fiscal year 2018, the Congressional Budget Office calculates.
The problem wasn’t on the revenue side, where the government took in $3.329 trillion, or about $14 billion more than the previous year. But spending rose more than $127 billion, thanks to a massive increase in both defense and domestic spending ...
Mr. Trump[2] and Congress agreed to earlier this year.