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Fortune • • general
Key Points:
- The U.S. national debt reached $38.4 trillion as of January 2026, growing by approximately $2.25 trillion over the previous year, marking one of the fastest rates of increase outside the pandemic period.
- Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden have overseen the highest annual debt increases in recent history, with Biden recording nearly $2.6 trillion in 2023 and Trump holding the pandemic-year record of $4.6 trillion in 2020.
- Interest payments on the national debt have surged, surpassing $1 trillion annually for the first time, posing a significant and growing expense for the federal budget.
- Despite increased tariff revenues under Trump, these funds cover only a fraction of the interest costs, and proposed policies
