The U.S. economy would have to grow far beyond anything its seen since World War II to meet Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's goals, according to a Washington Post analysis.

In a wide-ranging interview with the newspaper last week, Trump insisted he could, among other things, eliminate the nation's $18 trillion deficit in the maximum eight years he could serve in office. To do so, he would renegotiate trade and national defense agreements with other nations, cut waste and generate growth that would eliminate the debt, which roughly doubled under President Barack Obama.

However, the Post found that gross domestic product would have to explode by 13 percent to 24 percent annually to meet that goal. Even then, eliminating the debt would need a set of perfect conditions, including an agreement with Congress to freeze national spending with no reduction in tax revenues as a share of the economy.