India, Sept. 9 -- Donald Trump has been caricatured for years as erratic, impulsive, even reckless. Yet beneath the theatrics lies something more elemental: The instincts of a businessman. Where politicians cloak reality in rhetoric, a businessman looks at the balance sheet. And America's balance sheet today is sobering.

The United States carries more than $35 trillion in sovereign debt. Interest costs alone are racing toward parity with defence spending. Ratings agencies have quietly chipped away at the myth of American perfection, cutting US sovereign credit from AAA to A. The dollar's aura of invincibility looks more fragile with each passing quarter.

Trump's tariffs, bluster and "America First" slogans may sound like circus acts, bu...