The U.S. national debt crossed another historic milestone on Wednesday, topping $40 trillion for the first time in history, as persistent federal budget deficits continue to send the nation's debt burden soaring to new heights.

Data from the Treasury Department released on Wednesday showed that the gross national debt reached $40,047,425,768,420.22 as of Aug. 18.

The $40 trillion milestone comes after the federal government's debt burden crossed the $39 trillion threshold about five months ago in March, a mark that itself closely followed the $38 trillion level being passed in October 2025. Taken together, the debt has grown by roughly $2 trillion in the approximately 10 months since the $38 trillion mark was crossed.

The new total leaves gross debt about $1 trillion below the roughly $41.1 trillion statutory borrowing limit set when Congress raised the debt ceiling by $5 trillion in July 2025 — a cap that, once reached, would require Treasury to deploy the accounting maneuvers known as "extraordinary measures" while lawmakers weigh whether to raise or suspend it.

America's national debt is growing rapidly due to surging interest costs, which are rising because of a larger debt burden and higher interest rates, as well as growth in federal spending on Social Security and Medicare amid the aging of the U.S. population.

A March estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that the gross national debt will rise to $63 trillion in 2036, with annual budget deficits widening from about $2.1 trillion — the agency's estimate for the current fiscal year — to $3.1 trillion a year a decade from now.

The gross national debt topping $40 trillion follows another recent debt milestone that puts the burden in context relative to the size of the U.S. economy. Debt held by the public, the measure economists prefer to use in comparing a nation's debt to the size of its economy, reached $31.27 trillion in late March and topped the $31.22 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) — marking the first time in about 80 years that the public debt was larger than the economy. The roughly $8.8 trillion gap between the two measures reflects intragovernmental holdings — money the federal government owes to itself, chiefly trust funds connected to programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which make up the remainder of the gross debt.

Debt held by the public is projected to break the record of 106% of GDP that was set in 1946, when the U.S. was in the process of demobilization after the war ended, within the next few years, before rising to an estimated 120% of GDP in 2036, per the CBO's estimate. The last time the ratio peaked, at the end of World War II, it declined over roughly the next three decades — a contrast to the sustained upward path now projected.

Peter G. Peterson Foundation CEO Michael A. Peterson, in comments to FOX Business, framed the new milestone in terms of its impact on American households. The foundation is a nonprofit established by the late Peter G. Peterson, a former Commerce Secretary and co-founder of private equity firm Blackstone, that focuses on raising awareness of the nation's long-term fiscal challenges.

"For the millions concerned about affordability, let's start by asking Washington to take notice that the national debt just hit $40 trillion," Peterson said, adding that the debt has doubled in under 10 years and that "we must change course."

"The more debt we take on, the more interest costs we have to bear, which now even exceed the cost of national defense. And every trillion we add to our debt contributes to higher interest rates and inflation, increasing the mortgages, car loans and credit card bills of all Americans," he said. "At the same time, debt harms economic growth, slowing wage increases while the cost of living continues to rise."

The CBO's budget outlook from this spring noted that debt held by the public is projected to grow faster than U.S. GDP in the years ahead, a trajectory that could slow economic growth and reduce private investment while causing interest costs to rise even further.

The agency warned that those dynamics would also increase the risk of a fiscal crisis, in which investors lose confidence in the value of the U.S. government's debt, as that could cause interest rates to rise abruptly and cause other economic and financial disruptions. Such pressures could also increase inflation expectations, which may in turn degrade the dollar's status as the dominant international reserve currency.

"The only good thing about our fiscal challenge is that there are many available solutions, and the budget is entirely within our control," Peterson said, noting that U.S. adversaries like China, Russia and Iran likely enjoy seeing the country devalue its economic future.

"If we want to improve our living standards, today and for the next generation, now is the time for lawmakers to put our nation on a more affordable and sustainable path," he added.