Trump pledges fiscal restraint as US debt exceeds $40T
Federal borrowing has ballooned by $3.8 trillion since the start of Trump's second term, with 30-year Treasury yields hitting levels not seen since 2007
The US gross national debt crossed $40 trillion for the first time on August 19, hitting approximately $40.047 trillion according to Treasury data. President Trump, who has spent much of his second term promising to slash government spending, now presides over a debt load that has roughly doubled since his first inauguration in January 2017, when it stood at around $19.95 trillion.
Federal debt has grown by $3.8 trillion since Trump’s second term began in January 2025, and the borrowing costs attached to that pile are increasingly eating into the federal budget.
The numbers behind the number
Of the $40 trillion total, about $32.27 trillion represents debt held by the public, meaning Treasury securities owned by investors, foreign governments, and institutions. The remaining $7.78 trillion sits in intragovernmental holdings, essentially money the government owes to its own trust funds like Social Security.
The acceleration caught forecasters off guard. Revenue shortfalls from tariffs that were later invalidated, expenditures tied to the Iran conflict, and major tax legislation all contributed to the pile growing faster than projected.
Trump’s first-term tax cuts are estimated to have added $8.4 trillion to the national debt over their scoring window. His second-term tax and immigration law is projected to add another $4.7 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
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Annual deficits now exceed $2 trillion, a pace that was once reserved for emergency responses like the 2008 financial crisis or the pandemic.
Rising yields, rising pressure
Thirty-year Treasury yields have climbed to their highest levels since 2007, nearly two decades ago. For context, back in 2007 the total national debt was around $9 trillion. Servicing $40 trillion at today’s elevated rates is a fundamentally different fiscal challenge than anything the US has faced before.
What comes next
One near-term flashpoint is the debt ceiling. The projected next threshold sits around $41.1 trillion, with potential action required sometime in 2027.