Trump added 6.8T to defiect in 4 years..biden in on pace for 3T his first year
* You are conflating the "
debt" with budget "
deficits". They are not the same thing. A deficit is a budget shortfall, whereas debt is the current running total of deficits and surpluses.
* You also don't seem to understand how the fiscal year calendar works. For example, President Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2017. He submitted his first budget in May. It covered the 2018 fiscal year, which didn't begin until October 1, 2017. Trump operated the first part of his term under President Barack Obama's budget until October 1, 2017, just as President Joe Biden will be operating the first part of his term under President Trump's budget until October 1, 2021. So, in other words, the book isn't closed on Trump just yet.
The best way to measure what Trump contributed to the debt, would be to add his budget deficit of $966 Billion for the 2021 fiscal year to the debt level as of September 30, 2020 (
the end of the 2020 fiscal year), which was $26.9T. When you do that (
$966B + $26.9T), you come up with $27.86T. You then take that number (
$27.86T) and subtract the debt level as of September 30, 2017 (
$20.24T). That leaves you with $27.86T - $20.24T =
$7.62 Trillion... as a close projection of what the Trump Administration will have added to the debt in their full four years in office.
As far as President Barack Obama is concerned, the debt increase from September 30, 2009 (
$11.91T) through September 30, 2017 (
$20.24T) was $20.24T - $11.91T =
$8.33 Trillion.
So, technically speaking... Yes, Barack Obama did add approximately $710 Billion more than Donald Trump to the debt ... but, Obama also served as the President of the United States for twice as long as Trump did. If Trump had been re-elected, he would have easily passed Obama, with just one more fiscal year. Let's not forget that while running for President in 2016, Donald Trump pledged to eliminate the debt in 8 years. Instead, he added more to the debt than any one term president ever has.