# US national debt by president, 1980–2026

Source page: https://govargus.com/indicators/national-debt

Total public debt outstanding, including debt held by federal trust funds, in dollars of the day (not adjusted for inflation or the size of the economy; see federal debt as a share of GDP for that). The change over a term is the debt added.

Latest: $39.46 trillion (Q2 2026).
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, via FRED GFDEBTN (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEBTN). Quarterly data, fetched Oct 19, 2026.

Since 1980, the national debt ranged from $0.86 trillion in Q1 1980 under Jimmy Carter to $39.46 trillion in Q2 2026 under Donald Trump (2nd term). Of the 8 completed terms with data, the national debt rose fastest under Joe Biden, at +$2.12 trillion/yr against +$1.94 trillion/yr in the four years before, and slowest under Jimmy Carter, at +$0.07 trillion/yr against +$0.05 trillion/yr in the four years before. So far under Donald Trump (2nd term), it has gone from $36.22 trillion in Q4 2024 to $39.46 trillion in Q2 2026.

## By presidential term

Each row is the value at the last full period before inauguration and at the end of the term, with the yearly rate of change, next to the rate of change over the four years before the term (the trend it inherited). A term's first year mostly reflects the previous administration's policies, and Congress, the Federal Reserve and the world economy move these numbers too. Govargus describes; it does not score presidents.

| President | Term | During term | 4 years before |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Donald Trump (2nd term) | 2025–present | $36.22 trillion → $39.46 trillion (+$2.17 trillion/yr, through Q2 2026) | +$2.12 trillion/yr |
| Joe Biden | 2021–2025 | $27.75 trillion → $36.22 trillion (+$2.12 trillion/yr) | +$1.94 trillion/yr |
| Donald Trump (1st term) | 2017–2021 | $19.98 trillion → $27.75 trillion (+$1.94 trillion/yr) | +$0.89 trillion/yr |
| Barack Obama | 2009–2017 | $10.70 trillion → $19.98 trillion (+$1.16 trillion/yr) | +$0.78 trillion/yr |
| George W. Bush | 2001–2009 | $5.66 trillion → $10.70 trillion (+$0.63 trillion/yr) | +$0.08 trillion/yr |
| Bill Clinton | 1993–2001 | $4.18 trillion → $5.66 trillion (+$0.19 trillion/yr) | +$0.37 trillion/yr |
| George H. W. Bush | 1989–1993 | $2.68 trillion → $4.18 trillion (+$0.37 trillion/yr) | +$0.26 trillion/yr |
| Ronald Reagan | 1981–1989 | $0.93 trillion → $2.68 trillion (+$0.22 trillion/yr) | +$0.07 trillion/yr |
| Jimmy Carter | 1977–1981 | $0.65 trillion → $0.93 trillion (+$0.07 trillion/yr) | +$0.05 trillion/yr |

## Events that bear on this indicator

- Aug 13, 1981, law: Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. Cuts the top income tax rate from 70% to 50% and phases in broad rate cuts and indexing.
- Nov 5, 1990, law: Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. Bush signs tax increases and spending caps, breaking his "no new taxes" pledge; introduces pay-as-you-go budget rules.
- Aug 10, 1993, law: Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. Raises the top income tax rate to 39.6% and expands the EITC; passed without a single Republican vote.
- Aug 5, 1997, law: Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Spending restraint, mostly in Medicare, paired with the Taxpayer Relief Act's capital-gains cut and child tax credit.
- Jun 7, 2001, law: EGTRRA (Bush tax cuts). Broad income tax rate cuts, phased in and set to expire after 2010.
- Sep 11, 2001, shock: September 11 attacks. Followed by the wars in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), largely financed by borrowing.
- May 28, 2003, law: JGTRRA. Accelerates the 2001 rate cuts and cuts taxes on dividends and capital gains.
- Dec 8, 2003, law: Medicare Part D created. The Medicare Modernization Act adds an unfunded prescription-drug benefit, starting 2006.
- Oct 3, 2008, law: TARP bank rescue (EESA). Authorizes up to $700 billion to stabilize the financial system.
- Feb 17, 2009, law: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. About $800 billion in stimulus: tax cuts, aid to states, infrastructure and safety-net spending.
- Dec 22, 2017, law: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Corporate rate cut from 35% to 21%, temporary individual rate cuts, and the ACA's individual-mandate penalty set to zero from 2019.
- Mar 27, 2020, law: CARES Act. About $2.2 trillion in relief: stimulus checks, expanded unemployment benefits and the Paycheck Protection Program.
- Mar 11, 2021, law: American Rescue Plan. About $1.9 trillion in relief, including a temporarily expanded child tax credit and larger ACA premium subsidies.
- Jul 4, 2025, law: One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Makes the 2017 individual tax cuts permanent, adds new deductions and cuts Medicaid and SNAP spending.