Who has increased the national debt more as a president Biden or Trump?
Executive summary
Analysts disagree depending on the metric: one prominent think tank (CRFB) finds former President Trump’s policies led to roughly $8.4 trillion of approved ten‑year borrowing versus about $4.3–$4.7 trillion for President Biden, so by that accounting Trump added roughly twice as much [1] [2]. Other measures — like the actual rise in gross federal debt on each president’s watch or some projections — show Biden’s four‑year increase will match or exceed Trump’s one‑term increase [3] [4].
1. Two ways to count debt — “approved borrowing” vs. debt on a president’s watch
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) and outlets that use its work report two distinct measures: “approved borrowing” counts the amount of future (ten‑year) debt created by laws and executive actions a president signed or enacted; on this measure CRFB estimates Trump approved $8.4 trillion versus Biden $4.3 trillion (and CRFB later updated a $4.7 trillion figure for Biden’s full term) [1] [2]. A different, simpler method is to measure how much the Treasury’s gross federal debt rose while each president occupied the White House — that measure has been used by PolitiFact and others and can show different leaders on top depending on timing [3] [4].
2. Why the two methods diverge — timing, COVID, and scorekeeping choices
The divergence stems from three realities. First, scorekeepers like CRFB attribute debt based on the long‑term budgetary effects of enacted policies (ten‑year costs) rather than year‑by‑year Treasury balances [1] [2]. Second, COVID‑era relief and pandemic effects create large, front‑loaded borrowing that some analyses exclude to isolate non‑pandemic policy — CRFB reports excluding COVID relief yields roughly $4.8 trillion (Trump) versus $2.2 trillion (Biden) [1]. Third, partisan analysts and official committees criticize methodology choices; the House Budget Committee disputed CRFB’s treatment of certain Biden items, arguing the analysis underestimates Biden’s contribution and overstates Trump’s [5].
3. What mainstream fact‑checks say about “who added more”
PolitiFact and similar fact‑checks emphasize that the answer depends on the metric. One PolitiFact item notes that Treasury data showed the gross federal debt rose by about $7.8 trillion during Trump’s presidency and that Biden was on track to surpass that by January 2025, making both claims defensible depending on the cutoff date and metric used [3] [4]. Axios and The Hill both reported CRFB’s findings that Trump’s approved borrowing was roughly twice Biden’s when using the approved ten‑year borrowing measure [1] [6].
4. Numbers reported by different outlets and their provenance
- CRFB’s headline: Trump approved about $8.4 trillion of new ten‑year borrowing; Biden about $4.3 trillion with later CRFB work estimating Biden approved about $4.7 trillion over his full term [1] [2].
- Treasury / gross‑debt on‑watch measures cited by fact‑checkers: Trump’s presidency coincided with roughly a $7.8 trillion increase in gross federal debt; Biden’s increase was similar and projected to exceed Trump’s by the end of his term, per PolitiFact [3] [4].
- Media summaries (Axios, The Hill) largely rely on CRFB’s methodology and emphasize the 2:1 ratio favoring Trump under that measure [1] [6].
5. Competing viewpoints and political context
Republican critics and some conservative analysts argue that Biden’s policies drove large recent borrowings and point to different accounting or Treasury cash‑balance adjustments to make their case [7] [5]. Democratic defenders emphasize pandemic spending, automatic spending drivers, and bipartisan measures that predate either president; CRFB itself cautions that different counting methods will yield different leaders in the “who added more” contest [1] [8].
6. What this does and does not settle
The reporting establishes that the answer is not a single uncontested fact: if you measure “new ten‑year debt approved by a president’s policies,” CRFB finds Trump added more than Biden; if you measure gross federal debt growth on‑watch or use alternate scorekeeping and projection methods, Biden can equal or exceed Trump depending on exact dates and exclusions [1] [3] [2]. Available sources do not mention a single universally accepted, non‑controversial accounting rule that makes one method definitively correct [1] [3].
Bottom line: the substance of the disagreement is methodological. Cite CRFB’s ten‑year approval figures (Trump ≈ $8.4T; Biden ≈ $4.3–$4.7T) when arguing that Trump “added more” by that metric; cite Treasury on‑watch gross‑debt increases if you want the calendar‑based comparison that can put Biden on top by the end of his term [1] [2] [3].