The US national debt has exceeded a record $ 40 trillion - a staggering threshold at a time when defense spending, social programs such as "Social Security" and "Medicare", as well as interest on the growing debt make up a huge share of federal spending, the Associated Press reported.
This value was reached just five months after the US debt set the previous record of $ 39 trillion in March. Five months earlier, in October, it had reached $38 trillion. The unprecedented $40 trillion highlights the administration's competing priorities, from increasing defense spending, which the United States relies on for President Donald Trump's war with Iran, which began nearly six months ago, to lowering gasoline and food prices. White House spokeswoman Kush Desai said the Trump administration "has focused on cutting waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending while accelerating economic growth to put the U.S. debt-to-gross domestic product ratio on the right track." But experts say the skyrocketing debt and its record high are already weighing on Americans' wallets, making home and auto loans more expensive, and driving down wages due to fewer jobs. funds available to companies for investment, and raise the prices of goods and services.
Supporters of a balanced budget also warn that the long-term trend toward more borrowing and higher interest payments will present Americans with more difficult fiscal policy choices.
The United States has a statutory debt ceiling, a limit on federal borrowing that Congress has the power to set, change, or lift.
The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates that the United States will likely reach the $41.1 trillion ceiling between late winter and mid-summer 2027, which would require Congress to vote again on whether to raise it or temporarily suspend it.