After reading yet another righty’s attempt to describe the recent DOGE shenanigans as bold and deeply necessary acts of fiscal conservatism, I decided to see how how long it would take for me to poke a hole in that assertion. Not by simply assuming that Donald Trump has no principles – even though I believe that – but by looking around for evidence supporting or refuting Trump’s fiscal conservative cred.
It only took a few minutes, based on Trump’s first term and its so-called budgets. Here are some relevant numbers:
| Year | Revenues (million $) |
Outlays (million $) |
Deficit (million $) |
Deficit (in % of GDP) |
| … | … | … | … | … |
| 2016 | 3,267,961 | 3,852,612 | −584,651 | −3.3% |
| 2017 | 3,316,182 | 3,981,554 | −665,372 | −3.7% |
| 2018 | 3,329,907 | 4,109,047 | −779,140 | −3.9% |
| 2019 | 3,463,364 | 4,446,960 | −983,596 | −4.7% |
| 2020 | 3,421,164 | 6,553,621 | −3,132,457 | −14.9% |
Sure, 2020 was an outlier, but what about every other year?
Did federal spending go up every year? Yes, it did.
Did deficit spending get worse every year, both in total dollars and as a percentage of GDP? Yes, it did.
Did Trump’s party have control of either half or all of Congress at the time? Yes, it did.
Is Trump a fiscal conservative? No, he’s a fucking assclown and anyone who says otherwise is a liar or a fool.
Ray of Infamy 
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