Trump releases 2021 budget

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump has a $4.89 trillion plan for running the country if he wins reelection in November. His 2021 budget, released Monday, proposes cuts to social safety net programs and foreign aid and asks for increases for defense, veterans, and building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

What about the deficit? The president’s proposal would balance the budget in 15 years if there was overall economic growth at 2.8 percent this year and at least 3 percent annually thereafter. The budget as written is expected to go nowhere, fast, in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. The White House and Congress already negotiated a two-year spending deal in 2019 that covered 2020 and half of 2021, but this plan reminds Congress and voters of the administration’s priorities.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Stew about how Washington has largely abandoned fiscal conservatism.