US national debt tops $40 trillion for first time, doubled under presidents Trump, Biden

The US national debt has reached $40 trillion for the first time, with the amount doubling during the presidencies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, according to the Treasury Department. The total public debt outstanding is now $40.047 trillion, which includes $32.266 trillion held by the public and $7.782 trillion in intra-governmental debt.

The federal government's debt has more than doubled in less than a decade, from $19.95 trillion when President Trump was inaugurated in January 2017. Roughly one-third of the increase occurred during two years of borrowing to fund pandemic responses under both Trump and Biden, while fiscal policy choices and long-standing tax-and-spending imbalances accounted for the rest.

Budget watchdog groups have warned that a full-blown debt crisis could erupt unless lawmakers address an unsustainable fiscal outlook and consider raising taxes, cutting spending, or both. Maya MacGuineas, president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, emphasized that the growing debt burden exacerbates inflation, squeezes other priorities, and leaves the country vulnerable to emergencies both domestically and internationally.

Global creditors may already be growing wary, as yields on long bonds hit their highest levels in nearly two decades following a $25 billion 30-year Treasury bond auction. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took steps to push long bond yields back by doubling the buyback sizes for 10- to 30-year Treasuries. However, demand for US debt by foreign investors has been declining over the past year, potentially leading to market volatility as more bonds fall to less price-sensitive buyers.