As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, the U.S. government’s fiscal health is bleak, with debt and deficits set to reach record levels.

The new budget forecasts predicted that the United States will record a $1.9 trillion budget deficit this fiscal year and that annual deficits over the next decade will total $21.1 trillion. That will be piled on to a national debt that currently exceeds $36 trillion.

Scott Bessent, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's choice to head the Treasury Department, on Thursday said the question of eliminating the U.S. debt limit is "nuanced," but said if Trump wants to do so he will work with him and with Congress to get it done.

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, the U.S. government’s fiscal health is bleak, with debt and deficits set to reach record levels.

TRUMP TELLS EU TO BUY MORE AMERICAN-MADE OIL AND GAS OR FACE 'TARIFFS ALL THE WAY' Trump’s economic plan includes extending the 2017 tax cuts and imposing tariffs ranging from 1

Scott Bessent also tells US senators in heated confirmation hearing that he backs tougher sanctions on Russian oil

The biggest takeaway from Treasury secretary-designee Scott Bessent's confirmation hearing is that it's a safe bet he will be confirmed as the 79th secretary of the Treasury. Republican senators supported his confirmation,

South Carolina billionaire investor and hedge-fund manager Scott Bessent faced questioning on Capitol Hill Thursday during his Senate confirmation hearing to be the country’s next treasury secretary.