{
  "id": 2027389,
  "title": "The U.S. national debt now stands at $40 trillion",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/the-u-s-national-debt-now-stands-at-40-trillion",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-19T21:51:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PBS NewsHour",
    "slug": "pbs-newshour",
    "url": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/the-u-s-national-debt-now-stands-at-40-trillion"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs like Social Security and Medicare and interest on the burgeoning deficit to make up an enormous share of federal spending.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}