US debt explodes past $40tr as Washington’s fiscal crisis deepens under Trump, Biden

US debt explodes past $40tr as Washington's fiscal crisis deepens under Trump, Biden.

Key points

• Since Trump took office a second time in January 2025, the US debt load has rose by $3.8 trillion, for total expansion of $11.6 trillion throughout his two terms so far.
• 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.
• US debt load has rose by $3.8 trillion, for total expansion of $11.6 trillion throughout President Trump's two terms so far.
• Asked at the White House whether Americans should worry regarding bond market volatility, Trump stated: I don't think so at all.
• Oil jumps past $91 as Iran war keeps Hormuz oil flows in limbo against the backdrop of stalled diplomacy.

US debt load has rose by $3.8 trillion, for total expansion of $11.6 trillion throughout President Trump's two terms so far. National debt rose by $8.4 trillion during Biden's four-year term.

Tax cuts have constrained revenues as social safety net, interest costs grow.

Trump not worried by bond market volatility, notes interest rates should fall.

Total US debt has topped $40 trillion for the first time, the Treasury Department remarked on Wednesday, drawing fresh warnings that a fiscal crisis is brewing as ballooning costs for social safety-net programmes and interest payments far outstrip revenues held back by tax cuts.

For context, the Treasury's latest daily cash and debt balances statement indicated total public debt outstanding at $40.047 trillion on Tuesday, a total that includes Treasury securities held by the public of $32.266 trillion and intra-governmental debt holdings of $7.782 trillion.

Meanwhile, the federal government's IOU has now more than doubled in less than a decade, from $19.95 trillion when President Donald Trump was sworn in for the first time in January 2017.

While the fiscal policy choices of both presidents combined with long-running tax-and-spending imbalances account for the rest, roughly one-third of that growth occurred during two years of frantic administration borrowing to fund the COVID-19 pandemic responses undertaken by Trump and former President Joe Biden.

Budget watchdog groups have anticipated crossing the threshold for weeks and issued stark warnings that a full-blown debt crisis could erupt unless lawmakers confront an unsustainable fiscal outlook and raise taxes, cut spending or both.

"Forty trillion dollars of debt doesn't exist solely on the government's ledgers; it is felt throughout the economy and finds its way to the pocketbooks of people one way or another, " remarked Maya MacGuineas, president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

"The more we borrow, the more we exacerbate inflation, squeeze out other priorities in the budget, and leave ourselves vulnerable to emergencies at home and turmoil abroad, " MacGuineas remarked in an official note just after the Treasury data was issued.

She remarked the $40 trillion figure was reached less than five months after debt reached $39 trillion, and has quadrupled in less than 20 years after taking until 1981 to reach $1 trillion for the first time.

"It is staggering how predictable the fiscal decline of a global power can become, " MacGuineas continued.

Global US creditors may already be growing wary, with demand from foreign investors holding almost one third of Treasuries declining over the past year.

Days after a $25-billion auction of 30-year Treasury bonds went off at the highest yield since 2021, yields on so-called long bonds on Tuesday hit their highest levels in almost two decades as investors demanded greater compensation in the face of hefty US administration bond issuance. Yields move inversely to bond rates.

On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took a bold step to push long bond yields back down, announcing a doubling of buyback sizes for 10- to 30-year Treasuries to at least $4 billion per operation.

Higher Treasury yields at the longer end tend to push up interest rates for mortgages, car and commercial loans. With the mountain of debt showing no signs of abating, Trump on Wednesday repeated his frequent demand for lower rates.

Asked at the White House whether Americans should worry regarding bond market volatility, Trump stated: "I don't think so at all. I think we have a particularly powerful country, and we're powering through these ridiculous interest rates – they're ridiculous. When our country is solid, interest rates should go down.", look.

In practice, the Treasury last week documented the fourth-highest monthly deficit in US history – $432 billion for July – as tariff 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.

Trump has largely ignored the dwindling number of fiscal hawks in his Republican Party, championing heavy spending throughout his two terms. Public debt rose by $7.8 trillion during Trump's first term, with more than half of it accumulating during the pandemic response over his last nine months in office.

Public debt rose by $8.4 trillion during Biden's term, additionally marked by heavy COVID-19 recovery spending, but driven as well by big-ticket outlays for infrastructure investment, clean energy subsidies and other priorities championed by his Democratic Party.

Notably, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the policy choices of Trump and Biden have rose the federal debt trajectory beyond what would have accumulated under the existing spending statutes when each took office.

For instance, Trump's landmark second-term legislative package – the One Major Beautiful Bill Act – will add another $4.7 trillion in debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan bookkeeper for federal lawmakers.

Trump has branded his second presidency as one focused on cost-cutting, marked by early federal agency job cuts ordered by the non-governmental Department of Administration Efficiency. But much of his spending reductions have targeted so-called "discretionary" programmes, the smallest portion of the federal budget. The US spends roughly $7 trillion annually, and 60% of it is earmarked for so-called "mandatory" programmes, including payments for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans' care, that generally grow to keep pace with living costs.

Another $1.1 trillion pays the interest on US borrowing, the cost of which rises as the debt pile grows and as interest rates climb. The 2025 fiscal-year budget marked the first time debt service costs exceeded Pentagon funding. In the first 10 months of the 2026 fiscal year, interest costs have eclipsed Medicare healthcare outlays to become the second-largest line item in the federal budget, behind the Social Security pension system.

In practice, the US is spending more to fund the retirement and healthcare costs of the "baby boom" generation, straining the trust funds behind Social Security and Medicare even as payroll and income tax revenues fall short of covering federal costs. Trump notes US and Canada strike agreement, temporarily pauses tariffs.

China leads wave of clean power wastage as grids globally hit limits. Pakistan refiner Cnergyico expands US crude imports against the backdrop of Hormuz disruption. Pakistan's refinery upgrade plan moves forward with planned $5bn investment.

Oil stays near highs as tanker attacks, fading peace hopes threaten Hormuz flows. Goods transporters suspend nationwide strike for 40 days after govt assurances. Govt intends major reforms to accelerate construction industry expansion.

In short, US debt explodes past $40tr as Washingtons fiscal crisis deepens under Trump, is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.