Bank of America analysis projects the United States national debt will exceed $40 trillion and reach $50 trillion within three years.
Posted by Bannon`s War Room, Checked
- Sources
- 7 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 70%
Bannon`s War RoomAug 17, 2026
The sources support both parts of the claim: U.S. debt passed $40 trillion on August 18-19, 2026, and Bank of America strategist Michael Hartnett projects $50 trillion by July 2029, roughly three years out. On August 17, the $40 trillion mark was still imminent rather than crossed, but the post was describing an expected milestone, which the sources back.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… They said, "The long trade ends in gold." What? It That's a Wall Street way of saying that what I've been talking about, the highly leveraged bet as a country we have, because Bank of America is now saying, their analysis, we're going to be passing 40 trillion; we're going to be at 50 trillion in three years. I'll break that down. Also, the highly leveraged bet we have on artificial intelligence being a massive productivity increase without concomitant mass layoffs. I don't know, a little jiggy, as you know, here in the War Room, we ain't a fan of that. …
Bannon`s War Room · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The AP reports the national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion on Wednesday, August 19, 2026.[1]
Supports. Treasury data show total debt first closed above $40 trillion on August 18, 2026, and reached $40.58 trillion by October 27.[2]
Supports. Bank of America's chief equity strategist Michael Hartnett predicts the debt will reach $50 trillion in July 2029, which is about three years after the August 2026 posting.[3][4][5]
Supports. Fortune and Yahoo Finance independently report the same Hartnett $50 trillion projection, though both appear to derive from MarketWatch coverage.[6][7]
Context. The post describes the $40 trillion crossing as upcoming, and sources from August 14 say it was expected within days, so the forward-looking wording matches the record as of the posting date.[3][4]
Sources
7 sources: 1 fact-checker, 6 not rated
- 1US national debt hits a record $40 trillion | AP Newsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2US National Debt Tops $40 Trillion: Why Interest Mattersadmiralmarkets.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3The U.S. national debt is about to reach $40 trillion milestonemorningstar.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 4The U.S. national debt is about to reach $40 trillion for the first timemarketwatch.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5The Next $10 Trillion of National Debtindependent.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6With the national debt nearing $40 trillion, Bank of America ...fortune.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7U.S. national debt nearing $40 trillion as BofA warns ...finance.yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post