“the debt is now $40 trillion”
Was the total public debt outstanding at least $40 trillion on the day of the statement?
Total public debt outstanding was $40,033,256,786,764.37 on 2026-08-20, the day of the statement. That is $40.03 trillion, made up of $32.28 trillion held by the public and $7.75 trillion in intragovernmental holdings. The series first closed above $40 trillion on 2026-08-18 at $40.05 trillion and has stayed above it since, reading $40.01 trillion on 08-19 and $40.03 trillion on the day quoted.
If you voted for the Big Beautiful Bill, please don’t get on here and express righteous indignation that the debt is now $40 trillion. Anyone with a room temperature IQ knew that cutting taxes and increasing spending was going to balloon the deficit.
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This claim was recorded from a retrieved artifact and set against U.S. Treasury Department, Debt to the Penny, total public debt outstanding. The question was written to be answerable by that record alone, with a resolution date of 2026-08-20. Each source below is linked and archived at the time it was read, unless it is a document that has not been published yet, which is listed as awaited.