The headline quote was allegedly voiced by Donald Trump in early 2017, when senior officials tried to explain the ominous nature of the burgeoning national debt (currently at $21 trillion), including a “hockey stick” spike sometime in the mid 2020s. In response, Trump allegedly noted that “the debt would reach a critical mass only after his possible second term in office.” This according to a first-hand source who spoke to The Daily Beast‘s Asawin Suebsaeng and Lachlan Markay. Trump said “Yeah, but I won’t be here.”
