News- World: Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the US sovereign credit rating from Aaa to Aa1, citing the nation’s increasing debt as a major concern, complicating President Donald Trump’s tax-cut efforts and impacting global markets.

Moody’s made the move on Friday as the US national debt continued to rise and reach a staggering $36 trillion in the past few months.

“This one-notch downgrade on our 21-notch rating scale reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns,” Moody’s said.

“Successive US administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs,” it added.

The agency had already changed the outlook of the US sovereign rating from stable to negative in November 2023.

The downgrade has created significant economic problems for Trump and his administration, who, from the first day of his office, has made very bold claims about fixing the US economy, including balancing the bloated budget and reducing the debt by several trillion.

The administration’s attempts to raise revenue and cut spending have so far failed to persuade investors.

Trump’s attempts to cut spending through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have also failed due to its inability to investigate the largest spender in the US economy, namely the Pentagon.

Moody’s announcement has drawn criticism from the Trump administration and economists who are close to the President.

“If Moody’s had any credibility … they would not have stayed silent as the fiscal disaster of the past four years unfolded,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai.

A triple-A rating demonstrates a country’s highest possible credit reliability and indicates it is considered to be in very good financial health with a strong capacity to repay its debts. Fitch Ratings downgraded the US in 2023, and Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings did so in 2011.

The downgrade came on the same day as Trump’s landmark spending bill was rejected by Congress. Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” failed to pass the House Budget Committee, with even some Republicans voting against it.

“Moody’s downgrade of the United States’ credit rating should be a wake-up call to Trump and Congressional Republicans to end their reckless pursuit of their deficit-busting tax giveaway … Sadly, I am not holding my breath,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in a statement on Friday.

Figures have shown that due to Trump’s tariff war, the US economy has decreased in size in the first three months of the year which in turn has affected Moody’s and other rating agencies’ view of the US economy.

Source: Press TV