Trump’s budget proposal would increase the deficit 5 times more than Harris’
Former President Donald TrumpThe economic proposal would increase the federal deficit by $5.8 trillion over the next decade, nearly five times more than the Vice President’s proposal. Kamala Harriswould add another $1.2 trillion, according to a pair of new studies from the nonpartisan Penn Wharton Budget Model.
The Trump’s Report found that his plan to permanently extend the 2017 tax cuts would add more than $4 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years. His proposal to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits would cost $1.2 trillion, while his pledge to further cut corporate taxes would add nearly $6 trillion.
The Harris Analysis Her plan to expand the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax credits would add $2.1 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years. And her proposal to create a $25,000 grant for all eligible first-time homebuyers would add $140 billion over a decade.
But Harris’s report found that raising the corporate tax rate from its current level of 21% to 28%, as the vice president has proposed, could partially offset her spending bill of about $1.1 trillion.
Along with raising corporate taxes, Harris has said she supports a $5 trillion revenue increase included in President Joe Bidenbudget proposal for fiscal year 2025.
Most of Harris’s sources of income, however, come with an important asterisk: They require congressional approval.
On the contrary, Trump has propose Trump has paid for his agenda with a 10% tariff on all imports and a 60% tariff on imports from China, neither of which would need congressional approval to be implemented. Trump claims these trade policies will generate enough long-term domestic growth to outweigh the short-term costs of his economic platform.
But Moody’s Chief Economist Mark Zandi estimated to NBC News that Trump’s tariffs could generate $2.5 trillion in revenue. And more broadly, economists warn that such a tough tariff policy could spark inflation, just as consumer price increases are starting to cool.
The Mr. Trump And Harris Campaigns are racing to portray the other side as an economic danger, each trying to win over voters weary of high cost of living.
“Donald Trump’s Project 2025 economic agenda is an inflation and deficit bomb that will make the middle class pay more and the wealthy pay less,” Harris campaign spokesman James Singer said in a statement to CNBC.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt defended the Republican presidential nominee in a statement to CNBC: “President Trump is a businessman who built the greatest economy in American history, and certainly does not need economic lessons from a radical liberal in San Francisco pushing for Communist Party price controls.”
Just over a month since Biden dropped out of the race, Harris’ campaign has been working at breakneck speed to roll out her economic agenda.
That pressure is mounting because the economy has been a weak spot for Democrats this election cycle, as voters remain nostalgic for the pre-pandemic economy under the Trump administration.
— NBC News’ Sahil Kapur contributed to this report.
