Trump vowed to eliminate $19T in US debt in 2016, a decade later it has surpassed $40T

WASHINGTON, DC: The US national debt has surpassed $40 trillion for the first time, more than doubling from the roughly $19.95 trillion outstanding when President Donald Trump first took office in January 2017.

The figure comes nearly a decade after Trump, during his first presidential campaign, said he would eliminate the nation’s $19 trillion debt within the next eight years through economic growth and better trade deals. The debt has continued to rise during his second term, with spending on the Iran war, tax cuts, tariff refunds and rising interest costs adding to the federal government’s borrowing burden.

Trump pledged to eliminate $19T in 2016 

During a 2016 interview with journalist Bob Woodward, Trump said the United States needed to address its then-$19 trillion debt and pledged to eliminate it within the next eight years.

Trump said he believed he could accomplish the goal “fairly quickly,” explaining that he expected to rely heavily on trade deals and economic growth rather than tax increases. “We’ve got to get rid of the $19 trillion in debt,” Trump said during the interview.

Trump said he expected it could be done “over a period of eight years.” He said tax increases would not be necessary, pointing instead to trade deals and economic growth, saying, “the power is trade. Our deals are so bad.”

The Treasury Department's latest figures put total public debt outstanding at about $40.047 trillion, including approximately $32.266 trillion held by the public and $7.782 trillion in intra-governmental debt.

Iran war, tax cuts and tariff refunds add to borrowing

The increase comes as the federal government faces continued pressure from large spending obligations and rising costs to service its debt. The US is on track to borrow more than $2 trillion this year, with expenditures including expenditures associated with the Iran war, which has cost about $37 billion, and the tax cuts enacted in 2025.

Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' is also estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to add $4.7 trillion to the debt. The administration has also faced setbacks to its tariff revenue plans after the Supreme Court invalidated some tariffs, requiring the federal government to refund more than $160 billion to companies that had paid the import duties.

The administration has said its efforts to reduce government waste and promote economic growth will improve the country's fiscal position. White House spokesman Kush Desai said it “has been focused on slashing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending while accelerating economic growth to get America’s debt-to-GDP ratio trending in the right direction.”

Lawmakers call for action as debt crosses $40T

A Treasury Department report has prompted renewed calls from lawmakers and fiscal policy groups for Congress to address the gap between federal spending and revenue.

Democratic Senator Mark Kelly sharply criticized Trump in a post on X, writing, “The President said he’d pay off the debt in his first term. Well we all knew that was a lie. Instead he ran it up to $40 trillion while he and his family made billions.”

Republican Senator Rick Scott also called for action, writing, “Our national debt just hit 40 trillion dollars! This is bad. Congress needs to get spending under control and balance the budget. Americans deserve better.”