I've often wondered if US Debt has ever actually mattered for the US. They were complaining when Bush took Clinton's surplus and wasted it on wars, and grew the deficit to $10T (some was Great Recession bailout related). The complained about Obama when he added another $10T over his terms. Then a little when Trump did almost $10T in his first term (some of that was COVID related). Then a LOT when Biden did the same thing. And now Trump second term he's "only" added a couple trillion.

Don't get me wrong, these are giant numbers and we shouldn't be spending like this. But We have been spending way more than we bring in since 2003, and it hasn't been an issue.

You’re right, they’re just numbers. Relative to other economies they can tell us the strength of US hegemony but, the numbers are not a reliable indicator of themselves - because the money isn’t “real”.