President Donald Trump promised to eliminate the national debt during his campaign, but he said Friday that building up the military is more important.

Total public debt outstanding topped $22 trillion earlier this week, with nearly $2.1 trillion coming under Trump's watch.

When touting his plans to stimulate the economy, Trump insisted that the growth — which would come from tax cuts, less regulation and greater infrastructure spending — would offset debt and eventually eliminate the national IOU. However, Congressional Budget Office projections indicate that the budget deficit will only grow in the years ahead, pushing the debt ever higher and eventually reaching about 150 percent of GDP in the next 30 years.

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Asked during a White House news conference Friday about the red ink, Trump said military spending has taken priority.

"But first I have to straighten out the military. The military was depleted," he said.