Coverage spread: 7 sources — 2 left · 4 center · 1 international
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- The US gross national debt passed $40 trillion (roughly $40.04-40.05 trillion) on or around August 18-19, more than doubling from about $19-20 trillion a decade ago.
- Debt growth accelerated under both the Trump and Biden administrations, with CRFB figures cited showing $8.4 trillion added under Trump’s first term and $4.3 trillion under Biden.
- The Treasury announced it would double its long-term bond buyback program (from $2 billion to $4 billion), running September 9 to November 4, in response to a surge in 30-year Treasury yields.
- Rising yields and debt levels are linked to real-world costs for consumers, including higher mortgage, auto loan and credit card rates, plus inflation.
Where they differ
- Fortune and The Guardian foreground alarmed reactions from watchdog groups, quoting Peterson Foundation’s Michael Peterson calling the situation a “crisis” of “fiscal mismanagement,” while Forbes runs a contrarian opinion piece arguing the milestone is “meaningless” because markets have already priced in the debt.
- BBC and CNBC emphasize market mechanics — bond yields, the Treasury buyback move, and analyst commentary from Oxford Economics and DZ Bank — as the day’s central development, while The Guardian and Fortune center more on the political and fiscal-policy narrative, including the looming government shutdown deadline.
- The Guardian is alone in tying the debt spike explicitly to a congressional impasse over spending bills and a September 30 shutdown deadline, plus roughly $100 billion in tariff refunds this fiscal year.
- CNBC highlights the record $432.3 billion July monthly deficit and near-$1.2 trillion in interest costs this year as a distinct data point, while BBC focuses more on the debt ceiling trajectory (projected to hit $64 trillion by 2036) and Iran-war-driven oil price effects on yields.
The US Treasury’s gross national debt crossed $40 trillion for the first time on Tuesday, August 18, according to Treasury Department figures. The debt has more than doubled in a decade, up from about $19.4 trillion ten years ago, and reflects sustained deficit spending under both the Trump and Biden administrations. The milestone arrived alongside a spike in long-term Treasury bond yields, prompting the Treasury to announce it would double its debt buyback program to help calm bond markets.
How big is $40 trillion, exactly, and how fast did it grow?
Treasury data put the closing public debt balance at $40.047 trillion on August 18 (some outlets round it to $40.04 or $40.05 trillion). A decade ago the figure stood at roughly $19.4-20 trillion, meaning it has doubled in about ten years. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Donald Trump’s first term added $8.4 trillion in debt, much of it tied to Covid-19 relief spending, while Joe Biden’s presidency added $4.3 trillion. In the current fiscal year, which began in October 2025, the debt has already grown by $1.8 trillion, with a notable chunk going toward roughly $100 billion in tariff refunds, per the Bipartisan Policy Center. For comparison, the Congressional Budget Office had not expected the debt to hit $39.6 trillion until the end of fiscal year 2026 — meaning the actual pace of borrowing has outrun official projections. The CBO projects debt could reach about $64 trillion by 2036.
Why did Treasury just double its bond buybacks?
Yields on 30-year Treasury bonds hit 5.34% on Tuesday, the highest in nearly 20 years, before easing to 5.18% after the Treasury’s announcement. The Treasury said it would increase its buyback operations from $2 billion to at least $4 billion, effective September 9 through November 4, describing the move as aimed at providing “greater liquidity support” for longer-term bonds. Analysts offered mixed reads: John Canavan of Oxford Economics called it an “attempt to provide relief” from pressures including oil prices, inflation risk and heavy government borrowing, but doubted it would offer “meaningful long-term relief” given the size of outstanding debt. Rene Albrecht of DZ Bank suggested political timing mattered too, noting midterm elections are three months away and that the Treasury had to “grab into the toolkit” to address rising yields. CNBC notes the yield surge, underway since late June, has pushed borrowing costs to levels not seen since before the 2008 financial crisis, driven by deficit concerns, a wave of AI-related corporate bond issuance, and doubts about the Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting resolve.
What’s driving the borrowing, and what does it cost taxpayers?
Treasury reported a $432.3 billion deficit in July, the largest monthly shortfall since March 2021, pushing the year-to-date deficit toward $1.8 trillion — higher than the same period last year. Interest payments on the debt have totaled nearly $1.2 trillion this year, according to CNBC, or about $963 billion between October 2025 and July 2026 by the CBO’s count cited by Fortune — roughly $3 billion a day. That makes interest the largest federal expenditure outside Social Security and Medicare. The debt-to-GDP ratio has climbed past 120%, a figure lenders watch when pricing risk on loans to the US government.
How are watchdog groups and economists reacting?
Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget noted it took nearly 200 years for the debt to first reach $1 trillion, in 1981 — underscoring how much faster borrowing has accelerated since. She said the debt “is felt throughout the economy” through inflation, squeezed budget priorities and vulnerability to future emergencies. Michael Peterson, chairman of the Peterson Foundation, told Fortune that even without a literal bill in the mail, Americans are already paying through higher interest rates on mortgages, car loans and credit cards, plus general inflation. He called the situation a “crisis” driven by “fiscal mismanagement.” A Peterson Foundation survey from July found 94% of voters said they’d be more likely to back a candidate with a debt reduction plan, a view shared similarly across Democrats, Republicans and independents.
Is anyone pushing back on the “crisis” framing?
Yes. A Forbes opinion piece argues the $40 trillion figure is not meaningful news because markets have long priced in rising federal debt, pointing out that 30-year Treasury yields today resemble those of 2007, even though the debt has grown nearly sixfold since then. The piece argues investors show no sign of fearing a US default, and contends the real, harder-to-see cost is the government spending that diverts capital away from private investment and innovation — a view at odds with the “crisis” framing used by budget watchdogs like the Peterson Foundation and CRFB.
What happens next
The debt milestone hit as Congress remains out of session and deadlocked over government funding: the House and Senate have passed differing spending bills, and a shutdown looms on September 30 if no unified bill is signed into law. The debt is also approaching the statutory ceiling of $41.1 trillion, setting up another round of fiscal brinkmanship in Washington in the months ahead.
Sources
Featured photo: Florian Hirzinger – www.fh-ap.com via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)