US debt has hit $40tn
The US national debt has reached $40 trillion, a milestone driven by decades of public spending, tax cuts, and crisis responses. Economists warn that high interest rates make the current debt trajectory significantly more challenging than in previous decades.
Why it matters
The ballooning national debt poses long-term risks to economic stability and limits the government's fiscal flexibility.
Image source, Getty Images By Michael Race Business reporter , Reporting from New York Published 21 August 2026, 00:15 BST Updated 2 hours ago What with a 250th birthday, Taylor Swift's wedding and the football World Cup, Americans could be forgiven for taking their eye off the ball this summer.
But signs of economic trouble have been building. This week they hit the headlines when US national debt passed the $40tn (£29.4tn) mark, raising concerns both at home and abroad.
It took almost 200 years for US national debt to reach $1tn for the first time, says Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
That milestone back in 1981 was treated as a wake-up call. "At that time, President [Ronald] Reagan told the nation in a televised address, 'If we as a nation needed a warning, let that be it'," she said.
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