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Trump’s first year back in the White House closed with the U.S. national debt roughly $2.25 trillion higher than when he retook the oath of office, showing how fast Washington’s red ink is piling up even amid DOGE hype and promises to pay it down. Over the calendar year 2025, the growth in the national debt was even higher, some $2.29 trillion.

The acceleration in borrowing, with the national debt standing at $38.4 trillion and growing as of Jan. 9, is sharpening warnings from budget watchdogs and Wall Street alike that the country’s fiscal path is becoming a growing vulnerability for the economy.​ The total national debt has grown by $71,884.09 per second for the past year, according to Congressman David Schweikert’s Daily Debt Monitor.

A Danish pension fund is planning to sell its entire holdings of U.S. Treasuries — about $100 million — over concerns about the U.S. government's financial stability.

AkademikerPension confirmed to CBS News that it is exiting U.S. Treasuries by the end of this month and that it will instead turn to the U.S. dollar and short-duration debt.

"The decision is rooted in the poor U.S. government finances, which make us think that we need to make an effort to find an alternative way of conducting our liquidity and risk management," Anders Schelde, chief investment officer of AkademikerPension, told CBS News in a statement.

Moody's Ratings in May downgraded the U.S. credit rating from the highest level — Aaa — to Aa1, one notch lower, citing rising government debt and heightened policy uncertainty tied to President Trump's trade policy.

The Trump administration has developed a bit of a reputation for officials saying things out loud that probably should have stayed inside their heads. Time and time again, someone steps up to a mic and offers a comment that feels wildly disconnected from how most Americans actually live. Last week, there was the Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who confidently suggested people could feed themselves on just $3 a meal, as if grocery prices, food deserts, and inflation were all imaginary problems. And now, that long list of out-of-touch moments has a new entry...

Earlier today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is also a multimillionaire, casually implied that retirees owning 5, 10, or even 12 homes is a normal, relatable experience.

Bessent made the comment during a discussion about housing policy with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo in Davos, Switzerland, when talking about the administration protecting "mom and pop" homebuyers from big investor groups, saying, "Someone, maybe your parents, for their retirement have bought 5, 10, 12 homes."

As the Daily Beast points out, according to the US Census Bureau, only 65% of Americans own a home, and only 4% own a second home. So yeah, the idea that retirees typically own five or more homes isn't based in reality.

This weekend, PBS NewsHour reported that Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre received a letter from Donald Trump, in which the president says he no longer feels "an obligation to think purely of Peace" because he didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize.