The ugly math on interest expenses, yields and the $40 trillion U.S. national debt

“The interest payments are starting to snowball,” said Joe Boyle at Hartford Funds.

If you thought last year’s national debt numbers were chilling, you haven’t seen anything yet. In the second week of August, the CBO released its Monthly Budget Review giving year-to-date totals, calculated through July, for federal FY 2026, ending September 30. For the first 10 months of fiscal 2026, Washington’s carr

August 22, 2026 7:54 PM ET President Donald Trump on Saturday brushed off concerns about the debt crisis plaguing the United States — now surpassing $40 trillion — in favor of a Hail-Mary strategy of economic growth.“It’s been a problem for 35 years and what we have now that we’ve never had before… is we have tremendou