US national debt surpasses 40 trillion dollars
The national debt of the United States has surpassed 40 trillion US dollars for the first time in history, according to data released by the US Treasury Department on Wednesday (19/8).
The data shows that debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings reached 32.266 trillion US dollars and 7.782 trillion US dollars respectively, bringing total outstanding government debt to 40.047 trillion US dollars as of Tuesday (18/8).
The new milestone, which came several months earlier than expected, reflects the persistent budget deficits of the US federal government, as spending continues to outpace revenue, adding to the national debt.
The US federal government has spent trillions of dollars responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently implemented tax cuts as well as increased military spending. As a result, US federal debt has grown rapidly in recent years, raising concerns in the bond market and pushing government bond yields higher. Rising interest payments are further driving up the total size of the national debt.
A monthly report from the US Treasury Department shows that the federal government recorded a fiscal deficit of 1.367 trillion US dollars in the first nine months of fiscal year 2026, which began on 1 October 2025. During that period, net interest payments reached 827 billion US dollars, exceeding defence spending of 713 billion US dollars and ranking second only to social security spending, which totalled 1.244 trillion US dollars.
US federal government debt surpassed 30 trillion US dollars in January 2022, exceeded 39 trillion US dollars in March 2026, and reached 39.7 trillion US dollars in July 2026.
Local media described the national debt surpassing 40 trillion US dollars as a worrying milestone for an economy resting on increasingly shaky fiscal foundations.
Warning signs are emerging “with public debt recently exceeding the size of our economy, the deficit-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio twice as high as it should be, and interest costs surpassing our national defence budget,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, in a statement on Wednesday.
“A 40 trillion dollar debt does not just sit on the government’s books; it is felt throughout the economy and ultimately reaches people’s pockets in various ways,” MacGuineas said.
“The more we borrow, the more we worsen inflation, crowd out other budget priorities, and leave ourselves vulnerable to emergencies at home and chaos abroad.”
“Our current fiscal trajectory is clearly unsustainable,” said Margaret Spellings, president and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center. “Even in the most optimistic scenario, we are hurtling towards the edge of a cliff and refusing to change course.”
“Federal debt has increased the cost of living and choked off other spending and investment, threatening our economy and the long-term prosperity of the American people,” she added.
“Forty trillion dollars should be a wake-up call. Yet neither Congress nor the president has a credible plan to stop its growth,” said Carolyn Bourdeaux, executive director of the political advocacy group Concord Coalition and Concord Action Fund. “We owe future generations something better than this crushing debt and more empty promises that someone else will deal with it later.”
In a statement responding to the worrying milestone, White House spokesman Kush Desai said US President Donald Trump has pledged to clean up the fiscal mismanagement of former president Joe Biden. “That is why the Trump administration is focused on cutting waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending while accelerating economic growth to get America’s debt-to-GDP ratio back on the right track.”