Jeff Mason and Andy Sullivan
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the U.S. may bear less debt than expected, saying it could be due to fraud related to debt payments.
Trump commented to reporters as he flew to the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, which plays a central role in the global financial system, the U.S. Treasury currently has $36.2 trillion in public debt.
Trump has carried out an ambitious overhaul of billionaire Elon Musk, which has sparked street protests in Washington and accused the Trump administration of violating the law.
Musk’s “government efficiency ministry” undermines the operations of several federal agencies and raises privacy and security issues while accessing sensitive pay and spending records.
“We’re even looking at Treasury bonds,” Trump told reporters on Sunday’s Air Force One. “There could be a problem – you’ve been using Treasury bonds to read about this issue, which could be an interesting question. ”
Trump added in the Treasury: “Probably a lot of things don’t count.
Trump’s comments on potential fraud related to U.S. Treasury bonds on Sunday raised the question of what kind of action Musk’s team might take.
A federal judge temporarily blocked Musk’s team on Saturday from accessing the government system used to process trillions of dollars in payments, citing risks believing that sensitive information may be inappropriate.
After the ruling, Musk said the Treasury and Doch had agreed to require all outgoing government payments to include reasons in the form of comments and to develop classification rules.
Musk also said that the nonpayment list of entities that should not receive government payments should be updated at least weekly, if not daily.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, appointed by Trump, said last week that Musk’s team “read-only” payment system and said other agencies would make any decision to stop payments.
(Reports by Jeff Mason and Andy Sullivan; Writing by Andy Sullivan and Brad Brooks; Editing by Noeleen Walder)
