"Did the US national debt exceed 34 trillion dollars?"
The U.S. national debt exceeded $34 trillion in early 2024 and has continued to rise since then.
AnalysisThe U.S. federal government's gross national debt surpassed $34 trillion in January 2024. This milestone was reached several years earlier than pre-pandemic projections by the Congressional Budget Office, primarily due to significant government borrowing during and after the COVID-19 pandemic to stabilize the economy and support recovery.
Following this, the national debt continued to increase. By February 2024, the total federal government debt had risen to $34.4 trillion. As of June 2026, the total gross national debt was reported at $39.28 trillion by the U.S. Treasury, and some sources indicate it was $39.47 trillion as of August 5, 2026.
This rising debt is a concern for economists and policymakers, with the annualized cost of servicing the debt reaching $726 billion in July 2023. The debt-to-GDP ratio has also climbed, and federal interest payments on the national debt surpassed spending on both Medicare and national defense in 2024.
- [1]pbs.org
- [2]wikipedia.org