Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics. The US gross national debt reached $40tn for the first time on Wednesday, the highest in US history. The government deficit doubled over the past decade, with government spending growing under both Donald Trump and Joe Biden – Trump approved $8.4tn worth of debt during his first term, with a large chunk going to Covid-19 relief spending, while Biden approved $4.3tn worth of debt. In fiscal year 2026, which began in October 2025, $1.8tn has been added to the debt so far. Both Democrats and Republicans responded to the milestone with outrage, with Democrats placing the blame on Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress for the uptick in spending. “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,” Mark Kelly, a Democratic senator from Arizona, posted on X. “Republicans ran up the tab, handed billionaires another tax
Democrats and Republican outraged over $40tn national debt – US politics live
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics. The US gross national debt reached $40tn for the first time on Wednesday, the highest in US history. The government deficit doubled over the past decade, with government spending...
In fiscal year 2026, which began in October 2025, $1.8tn has been added to the debt so far. Both Democrats and Republicans responded to the milestone with outrage, with Democrats placing the blame on Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress for the uptick in spending.
- “The President said he’d pay off the debt in his first term.
- Instead he ran it up to $40 trillion while he and his family made billions,” Mark Kelly, a Democratic senator from Arizona, posted on X.
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