Posted on 10/02/2026 9:19:02 AM PDT by wafflehouse
President Donald Trump said “certain levels of inflation” can reduce the burden of the national debt “very rapidly,” putting a long-running bond-market concern into unusually direct language.
The remarks came in a TIME interview conducted Monday and published Thursday, and were reported by the Wall Street Journal’s Nick Timiraos. Trump also said Federal Reserve interest-rate policy is hurting the economy more than inflation and blamed high rates for making it harder to reduce federal deficits.
“Certain levels of inflation will also pay off that debt very rapidly. Very rapidly.”
Pressed on how Washington could bring down the debt burden, Trump added:
“I don’t want to tell you what those means are, but you can pay off the debt through other means.”
For bondholders, the issue is straightforward. Higher inflation reduces the real value of fixed-rate debt if yields do not rise enough to compensate, effectively shifting part of the burden away from the borrower and onto holders of long-duration government bonds.
Trump also criticized the Fed’s rate-setting committee after its unanimous decision last month to raise rates to fight persistent inflation. He called the board “very hostile” while largely sparing Chairman Kevin Warsh, whom he said was constrained by other members of the committee.
That was Bizarro Trump. He says stuff to make the real Trump look stupid and then the MSM runs with it.
It sure as hell ain’t the democRats you want to help elect.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.