US Debt Surpasses $40 Trillion for the First Time

The U.S. Department of the Treasury said yesterday that total U.S. debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time, sparking new warnings of a looming financial crisis as rising costs for social safety-net programs and interest payments outpace revenues, which have declined due to tax cuts.

The Treasury’s latest daily statement on cash balances and debt showed that total public debt outstanding reached $40.047 trillion on Tuesday, an amount that includes $32.266 trillion in Treasury securities held by the public and $7.782 trillion in government debt held by federal agencies.

Federal debt has more than doubled in less than 10 years, rising from $19.95 trillion when President Donald Trump took office in January 2017.

Nearly a third of this increase occurred over two years of frenzied government borrowing to fund pandemic response measures taken by Trump and former President Joe Biden, while the remainder is attributed to the fiscal policy choices of both presidents, alongside long-term imbalances in taxation and spending.

Since Trump assumed office for a second term in January 2025, the U.S. debt burden has risen by $3.8 trillion, bringing the total increase across both of his terms so far to $11.6 trillion.

Public debt grew by $8.4 trillion during Biden’s term, which was also marked by substantial spending to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, but this was also driven by large expenditures on infrastructure investment, clean energy support, and other priorities championed by his Democratic Party.

Estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office indicate that the policy choices made by Trump and Biden have raised the trajectory of federal debt beyond what would have accumulated under existing spending laws when each took office.