Rubbish Check
Daily Mail Money · 20 August 2026
source“Borrowing costs spike as US national debt hits $40trillion: Fresh jitters on bond markets despite Trump intervention”
R3/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates Daily Mail's claim that US "borrowing costs spike" a 3/10 because the cited 30-year yield move (5.18% to 5.27%) is a partial rebound still below the week's 5.34% peak, not a fresh record, though the $40 trillion debt figure and the fading intervention effect are both accurately reported.
The Verdict
Lightly altered. The headline's core facts, the $40 trillion milestone and the Treasury intervention losing its grip, both check out against the article's own numbers. The only stretch is "spike": the yield move it hangs the headline on is a rise back toward, not past, this week's high, and "Trump intervention" compresses a Treasury Secretary's technical buyback move into a presidential act.
What actually happened
US federal debt reached $40 trillion, according to the latest Treasury data. Bond yields, which had surged to multi-year highs earlier in the week, briefly calmed after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced doubled bond buybacks, then began climbing again the next day.
Key facts
- US debt has hit a record $40 trillion, and it has more than doubled since Donald Trump first took office in January 2017, when it was $20 trillion.
- A market rout saw yields on US and other major global bonds soar, only halted after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a doubling of buybacks of US bonds.
- Yields on US 30-year Treasury bonds, at a 19-year high of 5.34 per cent on Tuesday, slid back to 5.18 per cent, but yesterday neared 5.27 per cent, meaning the "spike" the headline leads with is still below the week's actual peak.
- Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said the $40 trillion figure has quadrupled in less than 20 years, after taking until 1981 to reach $1trillion.
- US debt now stands at around 120 per cent of gross domestic product, with around $1.1 trillion spent servicing debt interest every year.
What to watch for
Watch whether the 30-year yield closes the week above 5.34%, the actual Tuesday peak, which would confirm a genuine new spike rather than a partial rebound. Also watch whether Bessent's buyback move gets more buyback rounds or fades entirely, since Wealth Club's Susannah Streeter warned the intervention could prove to be a sticking plaster which could be rapidly ripped off.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
