The National Debt and the Collapse of the US dollar

The United States has now exceeded a national debt of $38 trillion, marking a historic milestone and underscoring the rapid acceleration of federal borrowing.

According to the latest data from the United States Department of the Treasury, the gross national debt reached approximately $38,019,813,354,700.26 as of October 21 2025. 

This threshold was crossed just over two months after the debt exceeded $37 trillion in August, and less than a year after it first surpassed $36 trillion in December 2024.

Several key factors are driving this surge:

• An aging population contributing to growing enrollment in entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, increasing long-term fiscal obligations.

• Rising interest costs on the accumulating debt, which have ballooned thanks to both the larger base of debt and elevated interest rates implemented to combat inflation. 

• Budget deficits that remain extremely large—about $1.8 trillion in the last fiscal year—which perpetuate the cycle of borrowing. 

Experts are increasingly alarmed. For example, Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, said this milestone “during a government shutdown is the latest troubling sign that lawmakers are not meeting their basic fiscal duties.” He added that the pace of debt growth is now twice what it has been on average since 2000. 

Moreover, projections from entities like the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggest that under current policies the debt-to-GDP ratio (public debt relative to the size of the economy) could climb from about 100 % in 2025 to 120 % by 2035. Annual interest payments on the debt are forecast to increase from around $1 trillion this year to roughly $1.8 trillion by 2035. 

In short: the U.S. is on a steep upward trajectory for its federal debt — faster than ever before outside of the COVID-19 era — and fiscal analysts warn the longer this continues, the more it will crowd out investment in infrastructure, education, research and other future-oriented spending.

Source: NEW YORK POST