Trump says US may have less debt than thought because of fraud
By Jeff Mason and Andy Sullivan
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said the United States may carry less debt than thought and said it could be because of fraud related to debt payments.
Trump made his comments to reporters aboard Air Force One while flying to the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
The United States currently has $36.2 trillion public debt outstanding, according to the U.S. Treasury, which plays a central role in the global financial system.
Sand Console
Trump has tasked billionaire Elon Musk with an ambitious overhaul of the federal government, which has sparked street protests in Washington and accusations that the Trump administration is breaking the law.
Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" has disrupted operations at several federal agencies and has raised privacy and security concerns while accessing sensitive payroll and spending records.
"We're even looking at Treasuries," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. "There could be a problem - you've been reading about that, with Treasuries and that could be an interesting problem."
Trump added on Treasuries: "It could be that a lot of those things don't count. In other words, that some of that stuff that we're finding is very fraudulent, therefore maybe we have less debt than we thought."
https://m.piqsuite.com/reuters/trump-says-us-might-have-less-debt-than-thought-2025-02-09-22-19-32