The United States’ gross national debt has passed 40 trillion dollars for the first time, more than double the level when Donald Trump first took office in 2017. Ten years ago, as a presidential candidate, Trump promised to erase the debt within eight years.
DR reports that the total American national debt now stands at more than 256,000 billion Danish kroner, equivalent to about 40 trillion dollars. In a 2016 interview with Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, Trump said he would eliminate the debt in eight years, mainly by renegotiating trade deals, including with China.
Reuters reported that daily U.S. Treasury data showed total public debt outstanding of about 40.047 trillion dollars on August 19, 2026. That marked the first crossing of the 40 trillion threshold. CNBC put the figure at 40.05 trillion dollars, more than double the 19.4 trillion dollars recorded in 2016.
Debt added under two presidents
According to DR, Trump has increased the debt by roughly 74,000 billion kroner during his five years and seven months in office. Joe Biden raised it by close to 54,000 billion kroner over his four-year term. Reuters puts the same increases at 11.6 trillion dollars under Trump and 8.4 trillion dollars under Biden.
DR’s economics correspondent Casper Schrøder says the doubling is mainly the result of large state loans taken by both Trump and Biden to handle the coronavirus pandemic. The rest stems from fiscal decisions and years of imbalance between tax revenue and spending, per Reuters. Reuters also points to rising costs for social safety-net programs and interest payments.
Schrøder describes the debt as a gigantic figure, close to 100 percent of U.S. gross domestic product. As debt grows, investors become nervous and demand higher returns for lending to the United States, he says. That has lifted interest rates across the economy, making it more expensive for Americans to borrow for a car or a house.
Schrøder tells DR that Danish economists are watching the United States with concern. If the American economy runs into trouble, the world economy follows, and Denmark depends on selling goods abroad, he says. He adds that the U.S. economy is not on the edge of an abyss yet, but that the direction worries many, and that action will be needed within 10 to 15 years.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the debt level in an interview with CNBC, saying there is nothing magical about the 40 trillion dollar figure and that the country can grow its way out of it.
