US national debt surpasses record $40 trillion

The United States national debt has surpassed $40 trillion for the first time in history, according to Treasury Department data shared on Wednesday. The debt stood at $19.95 trillion in January 2017, when President Donald Trump was first sworn in, and has doubled since then, as reported by Al Jazeera.

About one-third of that increase occurred during the two years following the outbreak of COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic in March 2020. The government, under both Trump and his successor, President Joe Biden, borrowed heavily for the pandemic response. Since Trump took office a second time in January 2025, the US debt load has increased by $3.8 trillion, contributing to a total debt growth of $11.6 trillion across his two terms so far. It increased by $8.4 trillion during Biden's term, on the back of not only pandemic recovery spending but also big-ticket outlays for infrastructure investment, clean energy subsidies and other priorities championed by his Democratic Party.

Margaret Spellings, CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a centrist think tank, said last week as the $40 trillion threshold neared: "Our federal programmes spend much more than the government takes in, and the biggest-ticket items in the federal budget are all running on autopilot. Federal debt is already raising the cost of living and choking out other spending and investment, threatening our economy and Americans' long-term prosperity."

The $40 trillion figure amounts to about $117,000 in debt per person in the US, and $297,000 per household. It is approximately the combined value of the economies of China, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and India, according to the Peter G Peterson Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, DC.

The US Treasury last week reported the fourth-highest monthly deficit in US history – $432bn for July – as the Trump administration refunded tariffs that were struck down by the court system. Those refunds turned customs receipts negative for the third month in a row, and outlays for Social Security and Medicare benefits for seniors continued to grow. The deficit for the first 10 months of fiscal 2026 has already exceeded the total gap for all of fiscal 2025, with two months to go in the current fiscal year.

According to Mehr News Agency, the report by Al Jazeera highlighted these figures, citing Treasury Department data. The article also noted that the debt growth has been driven by pandemic response spending, infrastructure investments, and other government programs, raising concerns about the long-term economic impact.