US debt tops entire economy as 100 percent of GDP flips a dangerous era

Interest costs are climbing faster than budgets

The US debt-to-GDP ratio hit 100.2% on March 31, meaning America’s national debt now exceeds the size of its entire economy. The $39 trillion burden is tied to rising interest payments that economists say will cost about $827 billion to fix—roughly matching the defense budget. Interest costs are nearly tripling since 2019, driven mostly by past borrowing.