Fact-check: “The US national debt has doubled in the last 10 years”
Verdict: True (92% confidence)
Official Treasury data confirms the U.S. national debt grew from roughly $16.7 trillion in mid-2016 to over $38 trillion by late 2025 — a 2.28-fold increase, which means it more than doubled. A Fortune article from October 2024 independently stated the debt had 'doubled to a benumbing $35.4 trillion' over the prior decade, and the Joint Economic Committee put gross debt at $38.40 trillion as of December 3, 2025. The claim is accurate regardless of whether you measure from mid-2016 to mid-2026 o…
This fact-check was conducted by SpinkillerAI, a non-partisan AI-powered accountability platform.
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