U.S. National Debt Reaches $40 Trillion as Interest Costs Soar
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Treasury data confirmed last night that U.S. national debt now stands at $40 trillion, with the government now expected to spend more than $1 trillion in interest on the debt in the fiscal year of 2026.
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NPR EconomyU.S. debt tops $40 trillion Audio will be available later today. The federal debt is growing even faster than expected. Just paying interest on the $40 trillion balance is now the government's second-largest expense, outpacing everything but Social Security.
Common DreamsThe US national debt reached $40 trillion months earlier than forecasters expected, partially due to lost federal revenue from Trump's court-invalidated tariffs.
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“As Congress considers election year budget proposals, the national debt keeps rising and American families are paying the price through higher interest rates and inflation,” Peterson said in a July 31 statement.
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FortuneConsumers’ spending is closely linked to the debt picture, Michael Peterson of the think tank the Peterson Institute said in a conversation with Fortune this week: “When the U.S. borrows this much … that drives up interest rates, which then increases household expenses because your mortgage goes up, your car loan, your credit card bills, and inflation more generally. So [we] may not get a bill at the end of the month for national debt, but [we] are paying that bill both in the form of taxes as well as an inflated level of expenses.”
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The national debt is poised to reach $40 trillion this week, months ahead of Congressional Budget Office projections. This follows the federal government’s eye-popping report of
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Epoch Times BusinessThe national debt crossed a historic milestone of $40 trillion this week. It has been about three months since the federal government’s debt hit $39 trillion, according to the Treasury Department’s debt-to-the-penny dashboard.
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01 Fortune The U.S. national debt crossed $40 trillion for the first time this week, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants Americans—and markets—to shrug it off.
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02 Financial Times US government debt hits $40tn as borrowing rises at historic rate Public spending surges despite Donald Trump’s vow to stabilise America’s public finances
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03 Common Dreams 5 #000000 #FFFFFF "There is one point that should be very clear: It has been run up almost entirely due to Republican tax cuts and their inept management of the economy."
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04 Epoch Times Business Debt held by the public is around $32.2 trillion, and intragovernmental holdings are close to $7.8 trillion.
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05 NPR Economy Audio will be available later today. The $40 trillion national debt isn't just a number in Washington. It can make borrowing more expensive for everyday Americans, and every realistic plan to bring it down involves tradeoffs.
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