U.S. Debt Tops $40 Trillion for First Time
The American Conservative · R · trust 48/100
Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... The U.S. gross national debt exceeded $40 trillion on Wednesday.
Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the Trump administration had inherited a troubled economy. “The issue that we’ve had under the Biden administration, and what we’re still dealing with, is that the debt was growing faster than American GDP,” Vance said, adding that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “is very much on top of it.”
According to the New York Times , the United States is set to borrow more than $2 trillion this year to cover obligations including the Iran War and tax cuts enacted in 2025.
Net interest costs on the national debt approached $1 trillion in 2025, nearly 14 percent of federal spending.
The national debt has risen under both Republican and Democratic administrations. President Donald Trump has promised to pay down the debt through economic growth and sound fiscal management.
Harrison Berger is a correspondent at The American Conservative . He has contributed to Drop Site News, The Nation , and Responsible Statecraft. Previously, he was a researcher and producer for System Update with Glenn Greenwald. His work focuses on civil liberties and U.S. foreign policy. He studied Political Science and Russian Studies at Union College (NY).
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