U.S. national debt surpasses $39 trillion, rising by approximately $5 billion daily since October

(SeaPRwire) –   Barely a year ago, fiscal hawks were fretting over a new national debt milestone: the debt had reached $38 trillion, and annual interest payments were set to hit 13 digits.

Just over 200 days later, the U.S. national debt has exceeded $39 trillion. Per Treasury data revised retroactively for May 18, the debt totaled $39,008,999,901,378.68.

Over $1 trillion has been added since October 23, 2025—roughly $5 billion each day. The debt crossed $39 trillion in mid-March, then dipped below that level for a few weeks before climbing back to its current mark.

Worries about the national debt level are mounting, especially when measured against GDP (the debt-to-GDP ratio). This ratio compares a country’s borrowing to its economic growth, indicating the risks involved in servicing and repaying the debt. The U.S. ratio is around 123%, meaning its debt exceeds the total size of its economy.

Calls have emerged to align borrowing more closely with this metric: specifically, the annual government deficit should aim for 3% of GDP instead of its current rate of over 6%. This idea has bipartisan backing, but achieving it would take a massive effort—cutting the deficit to 3% would require about $10 trillion in reductions over the next 10 years to hit the target by 2036.

This issue is moving up the priority list for both public officials and private sector leaders. Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, has long warned of an economic “heart attack” where debt service payments could eventually squeeze out public-sector investments. Right now, interest payments are equal to the government’s combined spending on education and the military.

Similarly, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently cautioned that the bond market will eventually force Washington, DC, to take action when investors start asking for higher returns to keep purchasing U.S. debt.

That said, investors still view U.S. Treasuries as among the safest assets—if not the safest—available. Although analysts note that the recent uptick in 20- and 30-year Treasury yields is more likely due to inflation worries than fiscal alarms, the 30-year yield has neared levels last seen during the Great Recession, sparking discussion about whether “bond vigilantes” are making a comeback.

The president also has his own perspective on the debt situation. Trump has shown he understands the nation’s fiscal path and has proposed several ways to rebalance it, including tariffs and golden visas, to name a couple.

But in a recent interview with [publication name redacted] Editor in Chief Alyson Shontell, Trump offered another angle: the national debt isn’t that bad when viewed from a real estate mogul’s perspective. He compared the debt to the total value of America’s natural assets—like the Grand Canyon or its surrounding oceans. “If you calculate the value of these assets, it’s in the hundreds of trillions of dollars,” Trump stated, adding that by that standard, “if we keep the national debt at $40 trillion, we’re way under-leveraged.”

This argument might not sway debt hawks. Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, warned earlier this month that the increasingly frequent debt milestones “highlight the need for us to get our fiscal house in order.”

She further noted: “Markets will only put up with our unsustainable borrowing for so long; the risk of a fiscal crisis grows each day. We need to cut the deficit immediately.”