Moody's downgrades US credit rating from gold-standard AAA

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As the legislature fights over President Donald Trump's spending, the U.S. government lost its last major top rating from the international credit raters. Moody's dropped the U.S. from its gold-standard AAA to AA-1, citing increased federal deficits and interest payments. They said that if Trump's 2017 tax cuts were extended, as his spending bill plans to do, that would add another $4 trillion to the deficit. There are three major credit rating agencies. Standard and Poor's downgraded the U.S.'s rating in 2011, and Fitch Ratings did the same in 2023. Moody's did hedge their move, saying that the U.S. is still a strong buy because of "the size, resilience and dynamism of its economy and the role of the U.S. dollar as global reserve currency.’' (photo credit: Mikhail Makarov/Getty Images)