In a world of high inflation, economic fragility, and spiralling government deficits, America continues to behave as if it’s immune from basic financial gravity. Nowhere is this contradiction more visible — and more damaging — than in the sheer scale and spectacle of the U.S. presidency.
Every trip abroad by the president costs millions — fleets of aircraft, motorcades, advance security teams, entire hotels booked and retrofitted. The White House runs with a budget in the hundreds of millions. And for what? Prestige? Tradition? Security, yes — but also excess, waste, and a culture of entitlement.
This would be troubling even in a time of fiscal health. But America is currently hurtling toward $40 trillion in national debt, adding billions in interest payments each month. As Elon Musk and others have warned, this is not sustainable. At some point, the bond market will stop playing along. And when that happens, it won’t be the government running the economy — it will be the markets.
The moment that happens, Washington ceases to be in control. The bond market becomes the true authority, setting the terms, dictating interest rates, and indirectly forcing policy through economic pressure. A sovereign nation becomes a dog on a lead, tugged and dragged by the demands of creditors. Ask the UK what happened to Liz Truss’s premiership when the bond market lost patience — and then imagine it happening to the world’s largest economy.
Yes, the U.S. has the dollar. It prints the world’s reserve currency. But even that privilege has limits. Trust is the foundation, and trust can be lost — not in a slow erosion, but in a single, sharp moment.
And here’s the tragic part: this is self-inflicted. While ordinary Americans are told to tighten belts, go without, accept cuts or higher taxes, the executive branch operates with unapologetic largesse. It sends a clear message: “There’s no need to live within our means.” Former President Trump was a particularly glaring example — a man whose business empire was built on reckless debt, now mirrored in national policy, where deficit spending became an unexamined norm.
But countries are not businesses. You cannot bankrupt a country without real-world pain — social programs slashed, infrastructure left to decay, currency value eroded, and trust lost both domestically and internationally.
This is not a call for austerity. It’s a call for leadership by example. If the presidency wants to claim moral and fiscal authority, it must first curb its own excesses. Cut back the bloated travel entourages, scale down the ceremonial waste, and demonstrate that no one — not even the occupant of the Oval Office — is above the basic principle of sensible budgeting.
Because if Washington won’t impose discipline on itself, the bond markets eventually will — and they will show no mercy.
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Postscript: When the Personal Mirrors the Political
It’s no coincidence that former President Trump reportedly suffers from chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) — a condition often linked to obesity, inactivity, and poor circulation. Like America’s debt burden, CVI is a slow-building crisis of neglect, where pressure builds, circulation stagnates, and the body — or the system — struggles to sustain itself.
The symbolism is hard to ignore. Trump’s physical condition reflects the broader state of leadership in America: bloated, avoidant, and unwilling to confront the consequences of overindulgence. Just as CVI can be managed — with discipline, weight loss, and attention to warning signs — so too can the national debt. But both require an honest reckoning and consistent effort, not showmanship or denial.
When a leader disregards their own health while demanding trust and obedience from millions, it sends a dangerous signal: Do as I say, not as I do. But in times of crisis, people look for example as much as action. And what they see today is troubling — a leadership class insulated from sacrifice, coasting on borrowed time and borrowed money.
If America is to recover its footing — fiscally, socially, and morally — it needs leaders who embody restraint, responsibility, and realism. The body politic, like the human body, can only be neglected for so long before real damage sets in.
Postscript: very similar circumstances have been discussed in France. France has been living beyond its means for many years but this lifestyle is deeply entrenched and there seems to be no prospect of preparedness to change it among the political classes and indeed their citizens.
France’s Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), housed in the ornate Iéna Palace in Paris, has become a symbol of Parisian profligacy. Despite costing €45.1 million in 2023, the advisory body has delivered scant value: just 34 government‑requested reports over four years, compared to 165 self‑initiated publications of largely negligible impact. Council members, who meet roughly four days per month, earn around €49,000 annually plus a €19,700 tax‑free allowance—often while holding full‑time jobs elsewhere. Civil servants within CESE earn between €52,000 and €121,000, enjoy 54 days off annually, and receive generous perks such as chauffeur†paid fines and substantial retirement bonuses. Analyses by parliamentary and audit bodies conclude the council is outdated and ineffective, prompting calls—especially from think tank IFRAP—to abolish it and its regional fellows, yielding up to €90 million in savings.
CESE’s excesses are emblematic of broader fiscal dysfunction: France operates 792 public agencies with combined annual costs of €156 billion, fueling a national debt of €3.3 trillion and a budget deficit approaching 5.8 percent of GDP—even as public spending surpasses 57 percent of GDP.
In response, Prime Minister François Bayrou has launched a €43.8 billion fiscal consolidation plan. It targets deficit reduction to 4.6 percent by 2026 and 3 percent by 2029. Measures include a freeze on most public spending, a hiring freeze—reducing civil service numbers by replacing only one in three retirees from 2027—and agency mergers or closures. Further savings are expected from healthcare caps, frozen benefits and wages, and tax reforms targeting high earners, fraud, corporate profits and parcel deliveries. The plan also proposes eliminating two public holidays and streamlining employment regulations to spur productivity.
Bayrou warns that France’s “addiction” to public spending risks a Greek‑style collapse—and political opposition to austerity may bring down his coalition. This state‑of‑affairs serves as a cautionary postscript to any discussion of lavish executive‑office budgets abroad.
