Donald Trump Declared Himself 'King of Debt' And Claimed He Made A 'Fortune' With It — But Admits 'I Don't Like Debt For The Country'

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President Donald Trump has never been shy about his relationship with debt. But during his first presidential campaign in 2016, he said something on national television that most financial advisors would never say out loud — and he said it proudly.

"I am the king of debt," Trump told CNBC in 2016. "I love debt. I love playing with it."

He wasn't speaking hypothetically. Trump had spent decades using borrowed money to build hotels, casinos, golf courses, and skyscrapers — and his businesses had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times along the way. To him, debt wasn't a dirty word. It was a tool.

He explained that he would borrow knowing that if the economy crashed, "you could make a deal." And if the economy was good, it was good. So therefore, you can't lose.

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The Interview That Said the Quiet Part Loud

A few weeks later that same year, Trump sat down with CBS New's Norah O'Donnell and took it even further.

"I'm the king of debt. I'm great with debt. Nobody knows debt better than me," he said. "I've made a fortune by using debt, and if things don't work out I renegotiate the debt. I mean, that's a smart thing, not a stupid thing."

O'Donnell pressed him: how exactly does one renegotiate debt?

"You go back and you say, ‘Hey, guess what? The economy just crashed. I'm gonna give you back half,'" Trump replied.

It was a strategy that had worked for him in business. Whether it translated to running a country was another question entirely.

One Rule for Business, One Rule for the Country

Trump was aware of the distinction — and he said so.

When he walked back the idea of applying the same logic to the U.S. national debt, he drew a firm line between the two.

"I like debt for my company, but I don't like debt for the country," he told CBS News in the interview. "We'll have to start chopping that debt down."

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At a campaign rally in Florida a couple of months later, he returned to the theme again — this time framing it as a credential.

"I've always loved debt, I must be honest with you," Trump told the crowd while holding up a chart of the national debt. "I don't love it for countries but I love it individually. If things work out good, that's great. If they don't, you go renegotiate."