{
  "id": 2150934,
  "title": "US national debt passes record $40 trillion",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/us-national-debt-passes-record-40-trillion",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-20T11:24:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Island Sri Lanka",
    "slug": "the-island-sri-lanka",
    "url": "http://island.lk/us-national-debt-passes-record-40-trillion/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Total debt for the United States has passed $40 trillion for the first time, raising concerns that the country is facing a fiscal crisis as government spending outpaces revenue. The debt stood at $19.95 trillion in January 2017, when President Donald Trump was sworn in for the first time, and has doubled since then, according […]",
  "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."
}