At first, it seemed Trump was lowering the debt. It fell $102 billion in the first six months after Trump took office. On January 20th, the day Trump was inaugurated, the debt was $19.9 trillion. On July 30, it was $19.8 trillion. But it was not because of anything he did. Instead, it was because of the federal debt ceiling.
On September 8, 2017, Trump signed a bill increasing the debt ceiling. Later that day, the debt exceeded $20 trillion for the first time in U.S. history. On February 9, 2018, Trump signed a bill suspending the debt ceiling until March 1, 2019. It was $22 trillion. In just two years,Trump has overseen the fastest dollar increase in the debt of any president.
Trump's Fiscal Year 2020 budget projects the debt would increase $5 trillion during his first term. That's as much as Obama added while fighting a recession. Trump has not fulfilled his campaign promise to cut the debt. Instead, he's done the opposite.