At the APEC summit in Gyeongju, Donald Trump took the stage and triumphantly proclaimed that his second term had brought a staggering $18 trillion into the US economy. And that is just the beginning! He estimates that it will reach between $20 and $22 trillion by the end of the year.

This financial boom began last April when Trump imposed tariffs on imports from nearly every country. He confidently declared, “To the many investors coming into the United States and investing massive amounts of money, my policies will never change.” At that time, he projected an influx of $6-7 trillion, but reality proved even more generous, with the total soaring to double that amount.

However, there is a catch: US national debt has surpassed $38 trillion and is projected to reach 143.4% of GDP by 2030. In other words, while Trump is attracting investment, he is simultaneously exporting government bonds to finance global growth. This appears to be an attempt to fill and empty a bucket at the same time.

This influx of capital contributes to a strong dollar but causes US exports to lose their competitive edge. Trump seems to be playing an economic version of Monopoly, where each move generates trillions, but the numbers become increasingly abstract.