U.S. National Debt Surpasses $40 Trillion Amid Republican Tax Cuts and Spending

The United States national debt has risen to $40 trillion, reaching the level months earlier than most forecasters anticipated. The report notes that President Donald Trump’s two terms have coincided with an $11.6 trillion increase in the debt stock. Interest payments on the debt now consume more federal resources than the combined budgets of the military and Medicare, according to Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.).

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Economists cited in the analysis argue that the debt expansion is largely attributable to Republican fiscal choices over the past quarter-century. Major tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush and expanded by President Trump reduced federal revenue, while “disastrous wars of choice” and “billions in wasteful military spending” added to outlays. Additional pressure came from tariffs that were later invalidated by the courts, further eroding revenue streams.

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Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich contends that the debt’s size is a direct result of tax cuts favoring high-income Americans, who also receive the bulk of interest payments. Rep. Deluzio blames the surge on “more than $10 trillion” of debt accrued under Trump, warning that the interest burden now outweighs key entitlement programs.

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• Total national debt: $40 trillion (current level).

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• Debt increase during Trump’s presidency: $11.6 trillion.

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• Interest outlays now exceed combined military and Medicare spending.

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• Tax cuts under Bush and Trump identified as primary revenue-reducing factors.

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• “I have never been a deficit hawk, and I’m not about to change my religious affiliation now,” — Dean Baker

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• “As Jared Bernstein and Bobby Kogan have shown, our deficit would be far more manageable if first [George W.] Bush, then Trump, hadn’t rammed through tax cuts that hugely favored high-income Americans,” — Paul Krugman, economist

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