--- description: Donald Trump's plans would add $5.3 trillion dollars to the national debt, while Hillary Clinton's would add $200 billion, a report says. title: Donald Trump Plans Would Add $5.3 Trillion to National Debt image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt232c1509070c517f/6988a6af524fc07e08df9872/clinton-trump2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Donald Trump's Plans Would Add $5.3 Trillion to the National Debt  by [Haley Sweetland Edwards](/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/)  ## Haley Sweetland Edwards Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 22, 2016 3:59 AM CUT  Getty Images (2)  by [Haley Sweetland Edwards](/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/)  ## Haley Sweetland Edwards Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 22, 2016 3:59 AM CUT If you add up all of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s preliminary policy proposals—from increasing defense spending to creating a new childcare program—then subtract the amount of money he plans to raise with his tax plan, the result is some serious red ink. According to [an analysis](http://crfb.org/papers/promises-and-price-tags-preliminary-interim-update "undefined") by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Trump’s plans would contribute $5.3 trillion dollars to [the national debt](https://time.com/nextadvisor/loans/personal-loans/how-do-personal-loans-work/ "undefined"). Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s plans, by comparison, would only increase the debt by $200 billion. Since the national debt is currently around $19.5 trillion, according to the federal Office of Management and Budget, Trump’s plans would increase it by more than a fourth, while Clinton’s would increase it by just 1 percent, under the analysis. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s analysis is an update to its previous report [_Promises and Price Tags: A Fiscal Guide the 2016 Election_](http://crfb.org/papers/promises-and-price-tags-fiscal-guide-2016-election "undefined"), published in June, which analyzed the cost of every Trump and Clinton proposal on record at the time. The most recent update reflects both candidates’ amended plans as reported as of September 21, 2016\. It also excludes any calculation of economic impact. **_Read next:_** [**_What the Clinton and Trump Tax Plans Would Mean For You_**](http://time.com/money/4405149/clinton-and-trump-tax-plans-cost-by-income-level/ "undefined") The report finds that Trump’s plan would result in an overall reduction in non-interest federal spending (that is, all government outlays _not_ spent servicing U.S. debts) by about $1.2 trillion over the next decade. He would do that by cutting Obamacare, Medicaid and other non-defense spending. But he would also slash about $5.8 trillion in revenue through his tax proposal, according the report. While Trump has simultaneously advocated for two different tax plans, his most recent proposal would result in a roughly $4.5 trillion reduction in revenue from cuts to individual and business taxes, and another $1.2 trillion from repealing taxes that pay for Obamacare, the report found. Clinton’s plan, in contrast, would increase federal spending by about $1.65 trillion over the next decade. That includes a $500 billion outlay on her new college education program and $300 billion each on paid family leave and infrastructure. But Clinton’s plan would also boost revenue—to the tune of about $1.5 trillion—by significantly increasing taxes on very high income earners and businesses. Under Clinton, the national debt would rise to above 86% of GDP, the report said, while under Trump, it would top 105%. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4503404/donald-trump-national-debt-trillion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4503404/donald-trump-national-debt-trillion/"},"headline":"Donald Trump's Plans Would Add $5.3 Trillion to the National Debt","datePublished":"2016-09-22T03:59:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:44:50.053Z","description":"Raising it by more than a fourth","url":"https://time.com/4503404/donald-trump-national-debt-trillion/","keywords":["Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt232c1509070c517f/6988a6af524fc07e08df9872/clinton-trump2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Haley Sweetland Edwards","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt232c1509070c517f/6988a6af524fc07e08df9872/clinton-trump2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"clinton-trump","caption":"Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton","creditText":"Getty Images (2)","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4503404/donald-trump-national-debt-trillion/","name":"Donald Trump's Plans Would Add $5.3 Trillion to the National Debt"}}]}] ```