How Did America Get $40 Trillion in Debt?

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Cite

Soave, R. (2026, August 25). How Did America Get $40 Trillion in Debt? Reason. https://reason.com/podcast/2026/08/24/how-did-america-get-40-trillion-in-debt/

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Reason · collected 2026-08-25 · by Robby Soave

Quick Summary

A discussion of the US national debt hitting $40 trillion is featured in this podcast episode, where editors and writers from Reason magazine examine how the debt doubled in less than a decade and why federal spending continues to outpace revenue. The conversation also touches on various other topics, including the impact of President Trump's trade war with Canada and the growth of data centers. According to Nick Gillespie, government spending as a percentage of GDP and per capita is at an all-time high, contributing to the nation's debt problem. The podcast's discussion highlights the complexities of addressing the national debt issue.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-08-25, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The US has surpassed $40 trillion in national debt for the first time, according to the US Treasury Department. This milestone marks 20 years of government spending that grew under both President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. During Trump's first term, he approved $8.4 trillion worth of debt, while Biden approved $4.3 trillion worth of debt. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the government has added $1.8 trillion to its debt in the current fiscal year alone. As a result, government watchdog groups had anticipated for weeks that the US would surpass the $40 trillion threshold after it reached $39 trillion in March.

The rapid growth of national debt has raised concerns among economists and politicians about the country's economic future. Some experts warn that a loss of confidence in the US government could lead to higher interest rates, inflation, and even bankruptcy. In response to the growing debt, the Treasury Department recently announced $5 billion in bond buybacks to calm investors, but this move has been criticized as merely treating symptoms rather than addressing the underlying problem.

The national debt is projected to continue growing in the coming years, with some estimates suggesting that it could reach $50 trillion by 2030. This has significant implications for the country's economic stability and ability to fund social programs and infrastructure projects.

Written for “US National Debt Crisis” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 US National Debt Crisis
Economy/Business · 6 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 17% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this 🔴 15% hedged 2 of 13 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles report on the US national debt reaching $40tn for the first time, citing similar sources and timeframes.”
How The U.S. Racked Up Its $40 Trillion Debt same event · 100%
The Dispatch
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 15 📰 publisher trust 61
“Both articles report on the exact same date (2026-08-25) and describe the US national debt hitting $40 trillion, suggesting they are covering the same specific news event.”
Can the U.S. Avoid a Dangerous Debt Spiral? same event · 100%
The Dispatch
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 61
“Both articles discuss the recent issue with the US government selling 30-year bonds and the high interest rate offered, indicating they are reporting on the same specific event.”
EXCLUSIVE: The Right’s ‘War on Woke’ Is a Cash Grab on State Treasuries different event · 90%
Zeteo
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this 🔴 13% hedged 2 of 15
“The articles cover different topics with no apparent connection between them, discussing national debt in one case and right-wing corruption in another.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
12
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
17%
2 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
94/100
Reason's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
6
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-08-25 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Reason · 43 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Robby Soave
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🔮 They examine how the debt doubled in less than a decade, why federal spending continues to outpace revenue, and whether turmoil in the bond market could force politicians to take deficits seriously.
2026-08-25 · assertive framing · How Did America Get $40 Trillion in Debt?
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Also by Robby Soave
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 10 articles by Robby Soave →

Topics

America Canada Canadian Meta Reason

Subjects

Nick Gillespie PERSON · 3× Canadian NORP · 2× Jason Arday PERSON · 2× Peter Suderman PERSON · 2× Reason ORG · 2× Robby Soave PERSON · 2× America GPE · 1× Canada GPE · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Katherine Mangu-Ward PERSON · 1×

Narrative

"Bad Reasons and Worse Reasons to Hate Data Centers," by Robby Soave "Data Centers Are Doing Your Dirty Work for You," by Christian Britschgi "Sen. Ed Markey doesn't know what AI he is using," by Taylor Lorenz "Censors Seize on Jason Arday's Death as Excuse To Demand More Censorship," by Reem Ibrahim "Tony Is an Anthony Bourdain Origin Story," by Peter Suderman "Travel Shows Were Boring as Fuck.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-25
🔮 They examine how the debt doubled in less than a decade, why federal spending continues to outpace revenue, and whether turmoil in the bond market could force politicians to take deficits seriously.
2026-08-25 · Reason
How Did America Get $40 Trillion in Debt? · assertive framing

Claims (12 extracted, 2 hedged)

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Nick Gillespie are joined by Reason Senior Editor Robby Soave to discuss the national debt hitting $40 trillion and whether decades of fiscal irresponsibility are finally beginning to have consequences. asserted
decades → join → consequences
They examine how the debt doubled in less than a decade, why federal spending continues to outpace revenue, and whether turmoil in the bond market could force politicians to take deficits seriously. uncertain
turmoil → examine → deficits
They also consider why both parties abandoned the fiscal restraint that helped produce balanced budgets in the 1990s and what it would take to reverse course. asserted
it → consider → course
The editors also discuss President Donald Trump's escalating trade war with Canada and his administration's refusal to return tariff revenue collected illegally, the growing bipartisan backlash against AI data centers, and whether economic growth can realistically help America escape its debt problem. asserted
America → discuss → problem
They examine the government's case against Meta and the latest effort to blame social media for harms to children, then turn to calls for restrictions on journalists following the death of Cambridge professor Jason Arday. asserted
They → examine → Arday
Finally, a listener asks whether AI could shrink the federal workforce and dramatically reduce the cost of government. uncertain
AI → ask → government
0:00—National debt hits $40 trillion 15:26—Canadian trade war intensifies asserted
war → hit → trillion
Mentioned in the podcast: "$40 Trillion and Parents' Night Out," by Liz Wolfe "Why We Need To Shrink the National Debt, and Fast!" by Nick Gillespie Nick Gillespie on X: "For those of us concerned about national debt, here is federal spending and revenue expressed as pct. of GDP and per capita in 2017 dollars. asserted
spending → mention → dollars
We are spending too much, not taxing too little." asserted
We → spend → little
"Trump Imposes Harmful and Illegal Section 338 Tariffs Against Many Canadian Imports," by Ilya Somin asserted
Trump → impose → Somin
"Bad Reasons and Worse Reasons to Hate Data Centers," by Robby Soave "Data Centers Are Doing Your Dirty Work for You," by Christian Britschgi "Sen. Ed Markey doesn't know what AI he is using," by Taylor Lorenz "Censors Seize on Jason Arday's Death as Excuse To Demand More Censorship," by Reem Ibrahim "Tony Is an Anthony Bourdain Origin Story," by Peter Suderman "Travel Shows Were Boring as Fuck. asserted
Shows → hate → Fuck
Then Came Anthony Bourdain," by Todd Krainin asserted
Bourdain → come → Krainin
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