In December 2025, a digital milestone was reached: the amount of U.S. marketable national debt officially surpassed $30.2 trillion. In just seven years, it more than doubled.

Even more staggering is that, if you include the internal government accounting—those left-hand-to-right-hand debts—the “total national debt” has already soared to $38.4 trillion, just a step away from the legal ceiling of $41.1 trillion.

But the real killer isn’t this astronomical figure itself—it’s that the foundation supporting it has collapsed.

The era of low interest rates that lasted for decades is completely over. Now, just paying the interest costs $1.2 trillion every year. This sum is like an iceberg that grows on its own, with the part hidden beneath the surface quietly reshaping the trajectory of the entire U.S. and even the global economy.

What does this mean? The rules of the game have changed. The core contradiction of U.S. fiscal policy is no longer a stock issue of “how much is owed,” but a flow crisis of “how much interest needs to be paid each year.”

**Debt Out of Control: More Than Just a Numbers Game**

The $30 trillion threshold was both expected and jaw-dropping. If you look closely at its structure, you’ll see that this loss of control was inevitable.

First, the speed. The debt added over the past seven years is almost equal to the total accumulated over previous decades. From 2018 until now, it has more than doubled. The growth curve is alarmingly steep, far exceeding the pace of a normal economic cycle.

Then, there’s the “double leverage.” Everyone focuses on the $30.2 trillion in marketable debt, but don’t forget the over $8 trillion that the government owes itself internally. Added together, the $38.4 trillion in “total national debt” is the real burden.