Donald
Trump
said
Wednesday
night
Republicans
should
force
the
US
government
to
default
if
Democrats
won’t
make
spending-cut
concessions
in
the
debt-ceiling
fight.
Trump
made
the
comments
in
a
town
hall
in
Manchester,
New
Hampshire,
with
Republicans
and
undecided
voters,
hosted
by
CNN
anchor
Kaitlan
Collins.
The
prime-time
event
quickly
spiralled
out
of
control,
with
Trump
repeating
lies
about
the
2020
election
and
mocking
E.
Jean
Carroll,
who
on
Tuesday
won
a
defamation
suit
against
him
and
$5
million
in
damages.
At
one
contentious
moment,
Trump
called
Collins
“a
nasty
person,”
and
later
refused
to
commit
to
accepting
the
results
of
the
2024
election
if
he
lost.
On
the
subject
of
the
debt
ceiling,
an
undecided
voter
asked
Trump
for
his
thoughts
on
the
debt
situation
and
how
the
country
could
move
forward.
“We
have
to
start
paying
off
debt,”
he
said.
“I
say
to
the
Republicans
out
there –
congressman,
senators –
if
[Democrats]
don’t
give
you
massive
cuts,
you’re
going
to
have
to
do
a
default,
and
I
don’t
believe
they’re
going
to
do
a
default
because
I
think
the
Democrats
will
absolutely
cave
because
you
don’t
want
to
have
that
happen,
but
it’s
better
than
what
we’re
doing
right
now
because
we’re
spending
money
like
drunken
sailors.”
Pressed
by
Collins
on
the
issue
of
defaulting,
Trump
said:
“Well
you
might
as
well
do
it
now
because
you’ll
do
it
later
because
we
have
to
save
this
country.
Our
country
is
dying.
Our
country
is
being
destroyed
by
stupid
people,
by
very
stupid
people.”
Treasury
Secretary
Janet
Yellen
has
said
a
default
on
US
debt
could
cause
“financial
chaos”
and
have
an
“adverse
impact”
on
the
dollar’s
status
as
the
world’s
reserve
currency,
and
said
an
unprecedented
default
could
happen
as
soon
as
1
June
if
Congress
doesn’t
raise
the
borrowing
limit.
While
Senate
Minority
Leader
Mitch
McConnell
has
said
the
US
will
not
default
on
its
debt,
House
Speaker
Kevin
McCarthy
has
left
the
possibility
open.
Earlier
Wednesday,
President
Joe
Biden
warned
“if
we
default
on
our
debt,
the
whole
world
is
in
trouble.”
When
Trump
was
president,
Republicans
raised
the
debt
ceiling
three
times –
with
no
concessions
to
Democrats –
while
expanding
the
deficit,
and
in
2019
Trump
said
he
couldn’t
“imagine
anyone
using
the
debt
ceiling
as
a
negotiating
wedge.”
When
Collins
pointed
that
out,
Trump
said:
“sure,
that’s
when
I
was
president.”
“So
why
is
it
different
now?”
Collins
asked.
“Because
now
I’m
not
president,”
he
replied.
This
content
was
created
by
MarketWatch,
operated
by
Dow
Jones
&
Co.
MarketWatch
is
published
independently
from
Dow
Jones
Newswires
and
The
Wall
Street
Journal.
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