2024 was about election promises. 2025 will be about the math of delivering. This segment looks at tariffs, taxes and spending cuts.

With hedge fund manager Scott Bessent poised to be the next U.S. Treasury Secretary under the incoming Trump administration, ambitious plans are emerging to slash the national deficit-to-GDP ratio. But can they succeed? In this clip from The Call @ Hedgeye, Financials analyst Josh Steiner breaks down the daunting challenge of hitting a 3% deficit target. “In order to get to that 3% target, you can’t go after Social Security because of the Byrd rule,” Steiner explains. “So, you’re going to have go after Medicare and Medicaid and some of these other big pieces to, frankly, get anywhere close to numbers anywhere close to or toward 3%.” “There’s going to have to be massive spending cuts just to get anywhere close to keeping things as they already are,” Steiner continues. “We’re already at 6% deficit-to-GDP. What I’m saying is, it’s a very tall order.” Here is a direct video link.

Where to cut 2 $trillion (courtesy of ISABELNET).