To put into context, the debt is the result of gross mismanagement for well over 50 years in the USA.
I think we have to go back to Harry Truman to find someone responsible. His debt amounted to a mere .2% during his time in office.
U.S. Debt by President: Dollar and Percentage
Here is a quote from the Truman library.
"July 1, 1946, was the beginning of the first fiscal year following the end of the war. By that date the wartime Armed Forces had been largely demobilized; most of the war contracts had been liquidated. We had nearly completed our reconversion. From then until June 30, 1950, we were in a period of generally high employment and national income. For those 4 fiscal years we had a net budget surplus of $4.3 billion. By applying this surplus and some of the wartime cash reserves, the public debt was reduced substantially, reaching a low point of $251.2 billion in June 1949, and amounting to $257.4 billion on June 30, 1950."
This was a good record, though it should have been better. I recommended frequently during this period that our surpluses be larger and our debt reduction greater. But the untimely and unfair tax reduction of 1948, passed by the 80th Congress over my veto, prevented this.
Statement by the President on the Change in the Public Debt During His Term of Office | Harry S. Truman
I recall how someone in the press opined that Reagan run up the debt so the Democrats would have to slow spending after he left office. Since Reagan, the debt percentages and numbers started exploding.
Later, with Clinton, I recall how the GOP and even Rush Limbaugh were so excited about the Clinton "surplus" that they were arguing over how much in taxes they could cut. They then proceeded to project surpluses out far into the future, while spending and cutting more than ever.
Later, Bush added Part D medicare, It busted the projections for that program by 100% Not too mention the war performance after 9/11 that turned out to be a farce that 90% of Americans supported.
Obama too said some important things about fixing the debt as Senator only later to renege on it during his 8 years.
Biden in his career though has overseen more debt than anyone in the history of America. I base that on a formula where each member of Congress is given a percentage of the debt as is the President and VP. Since Biden was in all those offices for so long, and for the years of the most debt, he easily comes out on top. I do not think it would matter how you weighted it as to what percent the President was responsible etc. Biden frankly is the King of U.S. Debt.
The question is can Trump and the GOP fix even a small part? I'm skeptical, because Trump's last term was not debt friendly. Covid free money just caused inflation, so that is only a partial excuse. The Musk group though seems optimistic. More likely though they will be worse than the Congress during and after Bill Clinton.
Forgive me if I won't take the politicians at their word.
In fact, if you look at the listed citations (papers that cite this one) it says:
