US gross national debt tops $40tn for first time

Milestone marks years of government spending that grew under both Donald Trump and Joe Biden US debt reached $40tn for the first time on Wednesday, the US treasury department said, after the government deficit doubled over the last decade. The treasury’s latest debt balance showed $40.047tn on Tuesday afternoon, the highest in US history. The milestone marks years of government spending that grew under both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. During his first term, Trump approved $8.4tn worth of debt, with a huge chunk going to Covid-19 relief spending, while Biden approved $4.3tn worth of debt, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. In fiscal year 2026, which started in October 2025, $1.8tn has been added to the debt so far, with a big chunk of new government spending dedicated to tariff refunds, which have totaled $100bn so far, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Government spending watchdog groups have anticipated for weeks the US surpassing the $40tn threshold after debt reached $39tn in March. “For perspective, it took nearly 200 years for America’s gross debt to reach $1 trillion for the first time in 1981,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committ