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U.S. National Debt Surpasses $40 Trillion
By Aurax Desk | August 20, 2026 | 2 min read
The U.S. national debt has exceeded $40 trillion for the first time, marking a new record as federal borrowing continues to rise faster than government revenues. The milestone highlights growing pressure on the U.S. budget from spending programs, interest costs and years of deficits spanning multiple administrations.
U.S. national debt has more than doubled since 2017, reaching $40.047 trillion in August 2026.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. national debt reached $40.047 trillion on Tuesday, according to Treasury Department data released Wednesday, with $32.266 trillion held by the public and $7.782 trillion in intragovernmental holdings. The total has more than doubled from about $19.95 trillion when Donald Trump first became president in January 2017, and the debt has risen particularly quickly since the coronavirus pandemic, when the federal government approved large-scale emergency spending under Trump and later Joe Biden.
The increase reflects a combination of pandemic relief, tax and spending decisions, rising costs for Social Security and Medicare, and the growing expense of servicing federal borrowing. The government recorded a $432 billion deficit in July, one of the largest monthly shortfalls on record, while interest payments have grown to become the second-largest federal budget expense behind Social Security during the first 10 months of fiscal 2026. Public debt increased by about $8.4 trillion during Biden's presidency and has risen by about $11.6 trillion across Trump's two terms, according to Reuters.
The $40 trillion threshold also comes as investors demand higher returns on longer-term U.S. Treasury securities, increasing borrowing costs across the economy. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Wednesday that the department would double the size of planned buybacks of 10- to 30-year Treasury bonds to at least $4 billion per operation, while the Congressional Budget Office estimates that Trump's second-term tax and spending legislation will add substantially to future borrowing. The debt milestone does not itself indicate an immediate financial crisis, but it underscores a longstanding fiscal challenge for Congress and successive administrations as the government faces pressure to balance revenue, spending and debt-service costs.
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press and U.S. Treasury Department data.
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