By Eshioromeh Sebastian
The United States national debt has officially surpassed $40 trillion for the first time in history, according to data released by the Treasury Department on Wednesday.
The $40 trillion debt translates to roughly $117,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States.
The total public debt outstanding stood at $40.047 trillion as of Tuesday, comprising $32.266 trillion in debt held by the public and $7.782 trillion in intragovernmental holdings.
The milestone was reached months earlier than expected, reflecting the federal government’s persistent budget deficits as spending continues to exceed revenue. The debt has now more than doubled in less than a decade, from $19.95 trillion when President Donald Trump was first sworn into office in January 2017.
The pace of debt accumulation has become staggering. It took nearly 200 years to accumulate the first $1 trillion, but the government now adds that much debt in less than five months, according to House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington. The debt first crossed the $20 trillion mark in late 2017 and reached $39 trillion just five months ago in March 2026.
The federal government currently borrows approximately $6 billion per day, with over half of that amount going toward interest payments on existing debt—surpassing the entire national defence budget.
The $40 trillion figure amounts to about $117,000 in debt per person in the United States.
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, described the milestone as an ominous sign for an economy resting on an increasingly shaky fiscal foundation.
“Forty trillion dollars of debt doesn’t exist solely on the government’s ledgers; it is felt throughout the economy and finds its way to the pocketbooks of people one way or another,” MacGuineas said.
Margaret Spellings, president and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Centre, warned that “even in the rosiest scenarios, we’re speeding toward a cliff and refusing to turn the wheel.”
The Treasury Department reported a fiscal deficit of $1.367 trillion in the first nine months of fiscal year 2026 (beginning October 2025). During that period, net interest payments reached $827 billion, exceeding defence spending of $713 billion and ranking second only to social security spending at $1.244 trillion.
The rapid growth has been fuelled by trillions of dollars in pandemic-related spending, subsequent tax cuts, and increased military spending, pushing Treasury yields higher as bond markets react to growing concerns.
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