The United States national debt has surpassed $40 trillion for the first time, more than doubling its total from a decade ago. The accumulated debt has seen substantial growth during the presidencies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
When Donald Trump began his first term in January 2017, the national debt stood at approximately $19.95 trillion. By the end of his presidency four years later, it had risen to about $27.75 trillion, an increase of roughly $7.8 trillion.
During Joe Biden's term, which began in January 2021, the debt climbed from $27.75 trillion to approximately $36 trillion by January 2025, adding about $8.4 trillion. Trump's return to the White House for a second term in January of the previous year has seen the debt increase by an additional $3.8 trillion. This brings the total debt accumulation across both of Trump's administrations to approximately $11.6 trillion thus far, accounting for over a quarter of the total national debt.