Our most recent book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The first year of the second Trump administration has been full of ominous developments.
War and economic woes will hurt the GOP in November. The only question is how much.
Alan Rappeport at NYT:America’s gross national debt topped $40 trillion for the first time on Wednesday, an ominous milestone for an economy that sits on a shaky fiscal foundation after decades of borrowing to pay for the rising costs of the military, social safety net programs and President Trump’s tax cuts.
This year alone, the United States is on track to borrow more than $2 trillion to help pay for its obligations, including spending on the war in Iran and the sweeping tax cuts that Republicans enacted in 2025. Soaring interest payments to investors who have purchased America’s debt now make up about half of that red ink, pushing the United States into a deeper financial hole.
National debt as a percentage of G.D.P.
I'm really struggling between trumpeting this new $40 trillion total debt threshold, versus pointing out that debt held by the public - which is economically the more relevant figure - is $32.3 trillion. Which is really bad, but not a media-friendly round number. https://t.co/LzSS0TlpW8
— Jessica Riedl 🧀 🇺🇦 (@JessicaBRiedl) August 19, 2026