--- title: Debt Ceiling: Donald Trump Says He's Open to Eliminating It description: President Trump said Thursday that he would be open to eliminating the debt ceiling. canonical: https://time.com/4932389/donald-trump-debt-ceiling-eliminate/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-07T18:48:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:33:32.444Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Says He's Open to Eliminating the Debt Ceiling og:description: "There are a lot of good reasons to do that" og:url: https://time.com/4932389/donald-trump-debt-ceiling-eliminate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa79cb8d96ba93d1/6988dce00a4a22448a9cfcde/gettyimages-843795848.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump Holds Joint News Conference With The Amir Of Kuwait og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Says He's Open to Eliminating the Debt Ceiling twitter:description: "There are a lot of good reasons to do that" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa79cb8d96ba93d1/6988dce00a4a22448a9cfcde/gettyimages-843795848.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:27 video:published: 2017-09-07 section: politics topics: debt ceiling, budget, fiscal policy, government meeting, policy discussion, eliminating the debt ceiling genre: news, statement tones: measured, matter-of-fact, assertive, brief emotions: confidence (medium), openness (medium), calm (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: general news viewers, political followers, policy watchers, budget and finance followers people: Donald Trump content_suitability: politics [00:00-00:27] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # President Trump Says He's Open to Eliminating the Debt Ceiling > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=02384ae2-9693-4c97-8725-fcc1a433e89f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Says He's Open to Eliminating the Debt Ceiling [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Says He's Open to Eliminating the Debt Ceiling](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kLJx7Og4.m3u8) (0:27)  _Published 2017-09-07. President Trump said Thursday that he would be open to eliminating the debt ceiling, a routine procedural move that has become heavily politicized in recent years._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video presents a short statement about the possibility of eliminating the debt ceiling. The speaker says the idea has been discussed for many years and that there are good reasons to pursue it. He notes it was raised at a meeting the previous day and says it complicates things and is not necessary because the matter concerns budget. He adds that as long as the debt ceiling exists, it will never be violated. ## Key points - People have been talking for many years about getting rid of the debt ceiling altogether. (00:00) - The speaker says there are a lot of good reasons to eliminate the debt ceiling. (00:05) - Eliminating the debt ceiling is something that will be discussed. (00:07) - The idea was discussed at a meeting held the previous day. (00:10) - The speaker says the debt ceiling complicates things. (00:12) - The speaker says the debt ceiling is not necessary because the matter is about budget. (00:12) - The speaker says that as long as the debt ceiling is in place, it will never be violated. (00:22) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:12] Openness to discussing eliminating the debt ceiling. The speaker says the idea has long been discussed, there are good reasons for it, and it was raised at a meeting the day before. - [00:12 to 00:27] Why the debt ceiling is seen as unnecessary. The speaker says it complicates things and is not necessary since it concerns budget, but that while it exists it will never be violated. ## Key quotes - [00:00] Donald Trump: "For many years people have been talking about getting rid of debt ceiling altogether." - [00:05] Donald Trump: "And there are a lot of good reasons to do that." - [00:12] Donald Trump: "It complicates things. It's really not necessary because you're talking about budget." - [00:22] Donald Trump: "But as long as it's there, it will never be violated." ## Questions this video answers - Is the speaker open to getting rid of the debt ceiling? [00:00] - Has the idea of eliminating the debt ceiling been discussed before? [00:00] - Was eliminating the debt ceiling discussed at a recent meeting? [00:10] - Why does the speaker say the debt ceiling is not necessary? [00:12] - What does the speaker say will happen to the debt ceiling as long as it exists? [00:22] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-00:27]: Political statement about the debt ceiling and budget policy. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Sep 7, 2017 6:48 PM UTC President Trump said Thursday that he would be open to eliminating the debt ceiling, a routine procedural move that has become heavily politicized in recent years. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Sep 7, 2017 6:48 PM UTC President Trump said Thursday that he would be open to eliminating the [debt ceiling](http://time.com/4929767/donald-trump-house-passes-harvey-aid-bill/), a routine procedural move that has become heavily politicized in recent years. Speaking to reporters in the Cabinet Room, Trump said that he had discussed the idea with congressional leaders from both parties in a meeting in the White House on Wednesday, [confirming a story](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/09/07/trump-schumer-agree-to-pursue-plan-to-repeal-the-debt-ceiling/?utm%5Fterm=.345a662b05e9) reported earlier in the Washington _Post_. “For many years people have been talking about getting rid of debt ceiling altogether and there are a lot of good reasons to do that,” Trump said. “So certainly that is something that could be discussed. We even discussed it at the meeting we had yesterday.” Under the Constitution, Congress appropriates money, but the federal government doesn’t always bring in enough to cover that spending, so it bridges the gap by issuing debt. Currently, there is a limit on how much the government can borrow, and Congress has to periodically raise that limit to keep the government running. While lawmakers from the opposing party have often voted against raising the debt ceiling, it was typically more of a protest vote. But under the Obama Administration, Republicans in Congress threatened to not raise it if the President did not agree to certain conditions. These routine showdowns caused [investors to become increasingly worried](https://time.com/nextadvisor/banking/savings/how-to-budget/). Under the [deal reached](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-congress/trump-sides-with-democrats-on-debt-limit-in-rare-bipartisan-deal-idUSKCN1BH24F) between Trump and Democrats in Congress this week, the debt ceiling will be raised enough to postpone the need for another vote for three months. ## Transcript [00:00] It could be discussed. For many years people have [00:02] been talking about getting rid of debt ceiling [00:05] altogether. And there are a lot of good reasons to do [00:07] that. So certainly that's something that will be [00:10] discussed. We even discussed it at the meeting that we [00:12] had yesterday. It complicates things. It's really not [00:17] necessary because you're talking about budget. So it's [00:19] really not necessary. But it's certainly something we [00:22] could discuss. But as long as it's there, it will never be [00:25] violated. 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