National Debt passes $40 trillion

The U.S. national debt has now surpassed the $40 trillion benchmark, new data from the Treasury Department shows.

The U.S. had about $36.2 trillion in debt when President Donald Trump assumed office in January 2025. From then to now, the national debt has grown by 10.6%.

Among recent presidents, Barack Obama had the greatest percent increase in national debt from when he assumed office to the end of his first term. Obama took office amid the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis.

During Trump's first term, total national debt grew by 39.1%. During former President Joe Biden's term, debt grew by 30.5%.

The greatest dollar increase in the national debt was during Biden's presidency — $8.45 trillion. The COVID-19 pandemic — which began at the end of Trump's first term and continued into Biden's — did impact the national debt.

During Trump's first term, the national debt grew by $7.81 trillion. In Obama's second term, it grew by $3.51 trillion, and in his first, it increased by $5.81 trillion.