OPINION:
The nation’s gross debt has climbed to $38.56 trillion, a hike of $2.35 trillion from just a year ago and $10.7 trillion from five years ago.
This cannot last.
Each day, another $6.43 trillion is added to America’s national debt, according to the Joint Economic Committee’s Monthly Debt Update for February.
That cannot last, either.
Debt is a form of slavery. It’s also addictive; the spend, spend, spend mindset is tough to overcome. And Americans have been showing the addictive side credit shopping for decades, ignoring the red flags and shrugging off the warnings.
In 1990, the national debt was $3.2 trillion. In 1998, it was $5.5 trillion. By 2006, it hit $8.5 trillion; in 2009, it was $11.9 trillion. Now — nearing $39 trillion.
That’s quite a surge.
And while a trillion here, a trillion there doesn’t carry much meaning — who can comprehend multi-trillions of dollars? — the household burden is an eye-opener: more than $286,108. Yikes.
“The increase in gross national debt over the past year amounts to $6,894.56 per person or $17,401.98 per household,” the Joint Economic Committee reported.
“Total gross national debt amounts to $113,354 per person or $286,108 per household,” the Joint Economic Committee reported.
The future ain’t looking good.
By April, all factors remaining unchanged, the national debt will hit $39 trillion and another $1 trillion in debt will accrue every 154 days, the committee found,
President Trump’s tariffs, criticized by some as fiscally irresponsible, are nevertheless aimed at addressing America’s runaway debt by lowering deficits.
“Trump’s tariffs will reduce total deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade, according to [an] analysis from the Congressional Budget Office,” the White House reported last August.
The more revenues America takes in, the better chance for America to collect more than it spends, and therefore, the less America has to borrow to service debt — and ultimately, the less debt the nation has to pay. And the positive effects from Trump’s tariffs are supposed to swing into gear this year.
On top of that, Trump is taking several steps to return America to its more self-reliant days — less dependent on other nations for critical goods, less vulnerable to the stresses of breakdowns in supply chains, and therefore, less at risk of facing price hikes from governments of nations that aren’t exactly pro-America. China, anyone? This White House’s ultimate America First goal is to bring back manufacturing, medical supplies, agriculture, energy and mining of critical elements to this country, so that Americans aren’t reliant on other countries for their provision — and so that import costs, not to mention national security, aren’t problematic and burdensome.
More reductions in debt.
But these economic agendas will only last so long as the political will stands.
Once Trump leaves office, what happens?
Democrats are certainly not on board with cuts in services, leading to cuts in spending, leading to decreases in debt. Republicans, unfortunately, are no longer the party of controlled spending, either. And Americans in general have become a nation of spenders, but not savers. Only 46% of adults in America have enough stashed in savings to provide for three months’ worth of basic living expenses, Bankrate found in its 2025 Emergency Savings Report. Meanwhile, the average amount of credit card debt held by adult Americans in 2025 ranges from a high of $9,600 for Generation Xers, to just under $7,000 for Millennials and Baby Boomers, to roughly $3,500 for Gen Zero and the Silent Generation, according to Academy Bank.
Little savings.
Much spending.
Daily compounding of debt.
It’s an American addiction. But it’s one that demands healing.
“I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom. And, to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt,” said Thomas Jefferson in 1816.
More than 200 years later, those words and that warning still hold true.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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