The point of this is the press asks questions and gives a Hobson’s choice for responses. Which ever choice DJT (on anyone they wish to demean) makes, they print it as his idea when in fact he is given a stupid choice to begin with. Did the interviewer note that about half the debt is owed to the US Trust funds? IOW, the government is already doing exactly what they suggest DJT wants to do, simply by cutting or stringing out Social Security and other benefits already. Bet they did not cover that one.
It’s still up to Trump to learn how to dodge these questions. This will hurt against Hillery.
Trump’s not wrong either. Default is the only way this debt doesn’t destroy us, but saying it publicly is foolish.
It is also ridiculous in the extreme to wax sanctimonious about the Federal debt. Since Roosevelt devalued the dollar in 1933, reinforced manifold when Nixon took us off the gold/exchange standard, a falling dollar has cheated debt holders with regularity.
The New York Times is pretentious. It is not fair, balanced or even particularly well informed. It certainly does not respect any sort of journalistic duty, worth defending, in its dealings with its readers.