And so I begin on the economic front where Trump's failures can be seen almost daily in one of our nation's key economic indicators, as in the Stock Market. Exactly how so... because the Stock Market directly reflects what is known as “consumer confidence.” Simply, this means that when folks feel confident in how our nation's economy is trending...when what's called a “Bull Market” has taken hold...the American consumer does tend to spend more money which, in turn, boosts our nation's GDP...as in the “Gross Domestic Product”...a good thing indeed.
In fact, numerous leading economists here in the U.S...along with leading economists overseas...all seem to agree that the Stock Market will remain “unstable” until the Iran War is over...surely not good news on the economic front here at home. And when you couple that with the fact that while Donald Trump was a successful real estate builder and contractor...no one can or should deny that...when one is President of the United States one needs to actually know how to not only play the game of politics, but that the "business of the government” differs greatly from private sector business...private sector as in business for profit.
Remember, in Trump's attempt to bring down the national debt...I'll get into that in a bit...the countries seeing a raise in their tariffs had to raise the prices on the goods they sold to the U.S. simply to cover not only Trump's tariff increase itself, but in order to make even a marginal business profit as well. And who then became the unhappy recipients of a monetary increase in those countries goods...surely not our federal government...but we the American consumer. Not a smart move on Trump's part I'd say even with the national debt lowering being the reason given as to why he did what he did tariff wise.
Let
me explain. First, one needs to know as fact that at the beginning of
September 2026, the U.S. national debt was $40.10 trillion...the largest in United States history... with
$32.42 trillion of it being held by “We the People. ” And technically this means that each and every one of us now owes a whopping $119,713 to the federal government. Let that number sink in.But here is where it gets a bit sticky, as in can the national debt instead be remedied or even negated by what is simple “numbers shifting” on paper...remember “numbers shifting” is not uncommon on the federal government level no matter which party is in power. And “numbers shifting” is something I have always claimed could be done without the raising of tariffs while most thought me wrong...but as it turns out I was indeed right all along.
Simply, our president knowingly and willingly chose “We the People” to help in his paying down the national debt, and way too many American's pocketbooks are clearly still hurting because of this misguided action taken by “Mr. Art of the Deal”...taken because he clearly did not understand that the 'business of the government' is a completely different animal than private business dealings.
And by the way, since Trump first became president, when you add both of his terms in office together, to date this man has added a combined total of roughly $11.6 trillion to the national debt. Interesting indeed, and yet he still had the gall to add increasing the tariffs so that “We the People” would actually be paying for the tariffed countries having to increase the prices on their goods sold here in the U.S.
Simply, what is perfectly legal “paper shifting of numbers” could indeed have been done through what's known as “financial engineering, accounting revaluations,and strategic monetary adjustments”...all of which are fiscal and monetary techniques used by our and other governments to fund, optimize, and/or obscure the true cost of said government's spending...which if utilized correctly could have actually helped to bring down the national debt minus Trump's need for an increase in tariffs...which directly has negatively affected the American consumer...with no tax increases or government spending cuts needed as well.
Basically, and in simpler terms, what this process does is “shift numbers across balance sheets to erase obligations, engineer debt-free liquidity, and/or dilute what's refereed to as the debts structural weight.” Trump both as president and as a successful businessman should have known about this.
And once again let me explain, and start with the fact... which most don't know...that the U.S. Treasury holds over 261 million "troy ounces"* of physical bars of gold
...mainly at Fort Knox...with said gold being listed on the government's books at the “historic, statutorily fixed rate” of just $42.22 per ounce, thus equaling roughly $11 billion in value. However, if the statutory price were to be upgraded to what is current market value...for example between $3,400 to $5,000+ per ounce...the Treasury would garner an on paper gain of between $850 billion to $1.3+ trillion.
But to be honest here I am not an economist by any stretch of the imagination nor do I pretend to be one, but I do know simple math and how numbers work. And in my world 2+2 still = 4...but maybe in Trump's decision making world...maybe in the political world especially at election time or when campaign promises could not be kept let alone be met...it does not. Guess we'll find out next month come midterm time. Case closed.**
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Footnotes
Copyright @ 2026 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.
************************************************************************************************** For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article, Iran's Regime - Low on Time, Out of Leverage, Long on Desperation.
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