Bessent Says US Deficit Has Peaked as National Debt Tops $40 Trillion
Updated
Updated · Quartz · Aug 21
Bessent Says US Deficit Has Peaked as National Debt Tops $40 Trillion
3 articles · Updated · Quartz · Aug 21
Summary
$40 trillion in national debt did not stop Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from saying the Trump-era budget deficit has "very good" odds of already having crested.
That claim comes after July's $432 billion shortfall—the largest monthly gap in more than five years—and a fiscal-year deficit nearing $1.8 trillion, both above year-earlier levels.
Bessent said he, President Donald Trump and OMB Director Russell Vought are pursuing fiscal-consolidation measures worth hundreds of billions of dollars, while expecting tariff revenue this fiscal year to roughly match 2025.
The debt has doubled in a decade and jumped from $39 trillion to $40 trillion in about five months, far earlier than a 2023 CBO forecast that had not expected that mark until 2028.
Rising borrowing costs are adding pressure: interest is set to exceed $1 trillion this fiscal year, and with 30-year Treasury yields near 20-year highs, the Treasury plans to double buybacks of 10- to 30-year debt.