Japan reclaims title of top US creditor from China: report

Japan is now reportedly the top creditor for the U.S. government, edging out China for the first time since 2017.

MarketWatch reported Thursday that Japan’s holdings reached $1.123 trillion in June, surpassing China, which held $1.113 trillion that month.

{mosads}President Trump pledged in 2016 to work to reduce the U.S. national debt, $6.636 trillion of which is now reportedly held by foreign investors. In a series of statements in April 2016, Trump pledged to work to refinance and restructure the U.S. debt through trade deals and negotiations.

“With low interest rates, you can think in terms of refinancings, and get it down. I believe you can do certain things to pay off the debt more quickly. The most important thing is to make sure the economy stays strong. You can do it in smaller chunks. You can do it in larger chunks. And you can do it in refinancings,” Trump said at the time.

At the same time, Trump cautioned that paying down the debt could in some cases take a lower priority to policy positions of the Trump administration, including infrastructure reform.

The White House projected in July that the federal deficit will surpass $1 trillion this year. This would mark the first time in the nation’s history that the deficit has exceeded that level since the four-year period following the Great Recession.

As a candidate, President Trump vowed to eliminate not only the deficit but also the entire federal debt, which now stands at more than $22 trillion. It’s unclear how this campaign promise will play out in the 2020 election as Trump looks to tout his economic record.