136 trillion dollars in debt - Why the United States, by its own numbers and investigations, is already overleveraged

Anyone who knows us knows this. We love US numbers when they are tied to Trump. Not because they tell a story of success, but because most of the time they do not. Right wing populism is best exposed by its own numbers. That applies to Washington just as much as to Berlin, where an AfD blocks functioning projects with pointless motions and in doing so harms German citizens first - while its supporters celebrate it as success. You can call it naive. You can also call it stupid. Both fit. But these parties are strong at mobilizing, and a large part of the East may experience that firsthand starting in September. The damage afterward will be significant. But now back to the country of formerly unlimited possibilities.

The numbers are there in black and white. Published by the US Treasury. Hardly noticed. As of September 30, 2025: 6.06 trillion dollars in assets. Against that 47.78 trillion dollars in liabilities. The result is clear. Around 41.72 trillion dollars are missing - and that without the major social programs.

A small excerpt from our further investigations on this topic:

Investigations Show: Tariffs as an Illusion and Empty Show – How Trump’s Trade Policy Is Now Making the Deficit Explode

Research Shows: The 862,000 Lie - How Trump Faked His Job Miracle and Why AfD Voters Should Be Warned

1000 Dollars Less Per Family - Trump’s Tariff Policy Is Eating Through Grocery Carts and Gas Pumps

The Green Colossus Staggers - How Trump's Tariff War Shatters John Deere and the Farmers

This is exactly where the real problem lies. Social Security and Medicare do not fully appear in this balance sheet. They are reported separately. Calculated over 75 years, this gap amounts to 88.4 trillion dollars. Within a single year, it has increased by more than 10 trillion dollars. If these obligations are added, total burdens exceed 136 trillion dollars. A number worth reading again.

The development has accelerated. Government debt and interest obligations alone now stand at over 30 trillion dollars. Obligations for public employees and veterans continue to grow. Spending is outpacing revenue - and the gap is not getting smaller.

The Government Accountability Office has, for the 29th time in a row, not issued an audit opinion. An audit opinion is the official confirmation by an independent auditor that financial statements are accurate and reliable. The reason: massive problems in accounting, especially in the Department of Defense, along with unclear transactions between agencies. It is a condition in which even the auditors say they cannot fully follow the numbers. 29 years in a row. Let that sink in.

If the scale still does not register, a simple comparison helps. Divide all figures by 100 million and a US government budget looks like this: income around 52,000 dollars, spending over 73,000 dollars, an annual deficit of over 20,000 dollars - and liabilities of more than 1.3 million dollars against assets of just under 60,000 dollars. Year after year. Without pause. Without a plan.

Steve Hanke and David M. Walker draw an unmistakable conclusion. For them, the situation is no longer up for debate. The state is overleveraged. Not sometime in the future. Now. The political response? So far largely absent.

Our investigations show: proposals are on the table in Congress. A bipartisan commission is supposed to make the budget situation transparent and force concrete measures. At the same time, there is a push to amend the Constitution and bind a balanced budget over the economic cycle. The model is Switzerland’s debt brake.

The question is no longer whether the problem exists. The numbers are there, published by the state itself. The question is whether anyone in Washington is willing to take them seriously. Because the longer this decision is postponed, the larger the gap becomes between what exists and what has been promised. And at some point, that gap catches up with everyone - including those who still pretend that everything is fine.