Commentary by Stephen Macaulay
One of the things that doesn’t get a sufficient amount of attention is the simple fact that the government is not a business.
A business provides goods and services to consumers. As a result of that exchange, the business makes a profit.
This is not to say that it is acceptable for the government to do the opposite of making a profit — as in running a debt — but that’s been the status quo for some time now: Debt, debt and more debt.
People imagine that Donald Trump is some sort of magnificent businessman, yet if we look at the national debt during his presidencies, he’s evidently anything but. In 2017, the first year in office of his first term, the national debut was $20.25 trillion. The next year it was $21.52 trillion. In 2019 it was up to $22.72 trillion. 2020 brought it up to $26.95 trillion.
So during that term the debt rose 33%.
The Biden presidency continued the increase in the size of the debt.
With 2024 being on his watch the figure was at $35.46 trillion.
Through September 2025, under the Trump Administration, the debt has risen to $37.64 trillion and based on the rate it has grown so far this year, it is projected to reach $39.44 trillion by end of the year.
Hell of a businessman, to put it mildly.
The role of a government is to provide services to the people under its protection (and protection is a large part of what government spending is on). By the populus putting money into a big pot, the government is able to spend more on services than individuals can.
Consider: If the street right outside your house has big potholes in it, odds are that you aren’t going to have the money to call in an asphalt crew to take care of it.
One might think that with the increase in debt, the Trump administration is doing all manner of things to provide superior services to the US population.
And according to recent Gallup polling on what kind of job various federal agencies are doing, if you thought that you would be wrong.
In 2024, according to the poll, 40% thought the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was doing an excellent/good job. In 2025, that number is 31%. So essentially that’s down by 25%, not some sort of margin of error.
The Food and Drug Administration is down to 27%.
Seems like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is doing quite a job, as both fall under his purview.
It is worth noting that the CDC lost 2,400 people this year and the FDA lost 3,500. What are the odds the numbers are going to get better?
We’ve all seen — and no doubt some of us experienced — hurricanes, fires, floods or other major disasters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground for, ready to provide assistance. In 2024 FEMA’s excellent/good rankings was at 40%. Now it is down to 26%.
FEMA has lost about a third of its employees this year.
Shouldn’t Kristi Noam be spending less time with ICE raids and more time on helping FEMA get back in shape?
And finally, the Environmental Protection Agency seems to be the bête noire of the Administration. For example, in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump described climate change as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and that renewables are a “joke,” “pathetic” and that they “don’t work.” Never mind that during the first half of 2025 renewables accounted for 34.3% of all global electricity generation — surpassing coal’s 33.1%.
Perhaps if more countries were using “clean, beautiful coal” that would not be the case.
Because air pollution is evidently a con job, there’s little need for many people to be working at the EPA. So far this year it has cut about 23% of its workforce and it aims to bring that percentage to 33% by the end of the year.
As for the job it is doing, the Gallup poll says it’s down to 25%.
The debt goes up. The services provided by the government go down.
No, it is not cherry-picking to use Gallup results for the first year of Trump’s second term. Following is some perspective.
How popular was the CDC back in 2003 when George W. Bush was president?
It was at 66%, compared to Trump’s 31%.
The FDA in 2009, when Obama, the man Trump would like everyone to believe was an incompetent (with, perhaps, the exception of Obama’s ability to walk down stairs):
38% compared to Trump’s 27%.
FEMA in 2014, again under Obama?
47% compared to Trump’s 26%.
And the EPA in 2003, again under George W. Bush?
39% compared to Trump’s 25%.
Given the increase in the debt and the decrease in services under Trump, were the US government a business, his stewardship would be putting it out of business.
Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings, writing primarily for the right column.