US debt crosses $40 trillion threshold after doubling under Trump and Biden

The United States federal debt has officially surged past the historic $40 trillion threshold. This massive milestone comes after the national debt more than doubled in less than a decade, climbing from $19.95 trillion when Donald Trump first took office in January 2017. According to the latest daily statement from the Treasury Department, the total public debt outstanding reached $40.047 trillion. This figure is divided between $32.266 trillion in Treasury securities held by the public and $7.782 trillion in intra-governmental debt holdings.

The rapid escalation of America's borrowing has triggered urgent warnings from fiscal watchdogs, who warn that a major fiscal crisis could be brewing. The core issue is a structural mismatch: the federal government's autopilot programs spend far more than it collects in revenue, a gap widened by persistent tax cuts and growing interest costs. Roughly one-third of the nearly $20 trillion debt increase over the last decade occurred during a two-year burst of government borrowing to fund pandemic response measures under both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The remaining balance was driven by chronic imbalances between tax receipts and federal spending.

Across their respective presidencies, both leaders oversaw substantial increases in the national debt. During Trump's first term, the debt rose by $7.8 trillion, with over half of that accumulated during the COVID-19 response in his final nine months. Since Trump returned to office in January 2025, the debt has expanded by another $3.8 trillion, bringing the total growth across his terms so far to $11.6 trillion. His landmark second-term legislative package, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to add an additional $4.7 trillion to the debt. Biden's single four-year term saw an $8.4 trillion increase, driven by pandemic recovery spending alongside large-scale infrastructure investments and clean energy subsidies.

This relentless growth is creating immediate financial strains. The interest required to service the $40 trillion debt has reached an astronomical $1.1 trillion annually. In fiscal year 2025, debt service costs officially surpassed the nation's military budget. Now, in the first ten months of fiscal year 2026, interest payments have eclipsed Medicare outlays, becoming the second-largest line item in the entire federal budget, trailing only Social Security.

Source :arabnews.pk

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