Used ChatGPT to create the idea. Then I traced and colored that image on Procreate
ChatGPT
How many times did President Trump say he would reduce the National Deficit?
Answer
There’s no official scoreboard that tallies every time Donald Trump has promised to shrink the federal budget deficit, but we do have two good proxies.
First Proxy
Full-text search of Trump’s public remarks, social-media posts and official releases archived by Factba.se Covering 2015-Jul 2025 for the exact or near-exact phrases “reduce the deficit,” “cut the deficit,” “slash the deficit,” or “balance the budget” 29 distinct hits Six during the 2015-16 campaign Eleven while he was president in his first term (2017-21) Twelve more so far in his second term (2023-25).
Second Proxy
Same archive, but looking for his bigger pledge to "eliminate" the debt/deficit e.g., “get rid of the $19 trillion in debt/deficit” 17 additional hits
Representative occasions when he made the promise
Four citied below
Sept. 15 2016 Economic Club of New York speech
“If we reach 4 percent growth, it will reduce the deficit." Accomplished by - $4.4 trillion tax-cut package Massive deregulation especially in energy Aggressive trade renegotiation i.e. NAFTA & Tariffs "One penny plan" cut one cent out of every non-defense, non-entitlement dollar each year - - Economists' skepticism - Non-partisan analysts (Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget) noted that hitting 4% sustained growth without major spending cuts or tax hikes was historically unprecedented and would likely widen, not shrink the deficit.
Apr. 2 2016 Washington Post interview
“We’ve got to get rid of the $19 trillion in debt… I think I could do it over a period of eight years.”
Feb. 10 2020 FY-2021 budget rollout
Not direct quote - Came from his administration budget fact-sheet Budget “forecasts $4.6 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years.”
June 25 2025 White-House "One Big Beautiful Bill" memo
Bill “will reduce the deficit and bring stability to the national debt.” For a breakdown of the 'Big Beautiful Bill' see inscription id 0f9e995eb680c2769caff0c9e6accc929842f19878788bbc9e6de0a3e473344fi0
Artist observations
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In theory
The idea of paying off our debt with the help of tax revenue would be feasible if it didn't rely on unprecedented growth but rather a more realistic sustainable organic growth, which would be ideal and practical if we weren't so far down debt's slippery slope.
We'll call it the 'Patriot Tax'
Looking forward to discussing how Ai can easily help us develop a tax model that will pay off the debt in 50 years while not breaking the bank.