Remember when politicians waited to get elected before backtracking on their promises?

In his latest policy change, Donald Trump backed away from his vow to eliminate the national debt by the end of his second term in office. Trump had made the claim earlier this month in a meeting with The Washington Post editorial board.

Here’s a screenshot of the pertinent part of his exchange with Bob Woodward:

Fortune magazine asked Trump in an interview published Thursday how paying off the $19 trillion debt in 10 years was possible; a pledge The Post called  “nonsensical, and as The Hill reports, even budget hawks called ridiculous.

In the interview, Trump denied ever making the claim. “No, I didn’t say 10 years,” Trump responded. “First of all, with low interest rates, you can think in terms of refinancings, and get it down. I believe you can do certain things to pay off the debt more quickly. The most important thing is to make sure the economy stays strong. You can do it in smaller chunks. You can do it in larger chunks. And you can do it in refinancings.”

Whereas he told The Post he would “get rid” of the $19 trillion, he told Fortune he now wants to pay off a “percentage” of it. He hasn’t determine what percentage, saying “It depends on how aggressive you want to be. I’d rather not be so aggressive.” Why? Because he has some spending to do.

Don’t forget: We have to rebuild the infrastructure of our country. We have to rebuild our military, which is being decimated by bad decisions. We have to do a lot of things. We have to reduce our debt, and the best thing we have going now is that interest rates are so low that lots of good things can be done that aren’t being done, amazingly.

This transition from eliminating the debt in eight years to knocking off an undetermined “percentage” is not the first questionable move to the left from Donald 2.0 since winning big in New York’s primary Tuesday night.  He knocked North Carolina’s “bathroom bill,” saying transgenders should be able to use any bathroom they choose. He also declared he wants to change (and weaken) the GOP platform’s position on abortion.

The promise from his campaign strategist that the Donald would be more Presidential is still waiting fulfillment. During a rally Friday in Delaware, Trump used a fake Indian accent to impersonate a call center employee.