From $71 Million to $39 Trillion—U.S. National Debt’s 250-Year Climb ^34.4%

Newsweek - By Hugh Cameron - 7/3/2026, 9:00 AM

Biased Writer Voice 29% - Negativity Bias 23.8% - Post Hoc (False Cause) 23.4%

America’s national debt has always reflected the trajectory of the nation itself—one rising as the other, at least economically, wavers—but rarely has that story been as stark as it is today. From a mere $71 million in the country’s early days to now more than $39 trillion on the eve of its semiquincentennial, the scale of U.S. borrowing... more