U.S. Debt Hits $40 Trillion

America’s national debt has surp***ed $40 trillion for the first time, the Treasury Department announced this afternoon. The figure, according to the latest data, sits at exactly $40,047,425,768,420.22. Borrowing has piled up over the last few decades in order to pay for the rising costs of the military, sprawling social safety net programs and other projects.

This year alone, the U.S. is on track to borrow more than $2 trillion to help pay for its obligations, including the spending on the war in Iran and a package of tax cuts that Republicans enacted last year. Interest payments on the debt make up a significant portion of the government’s annual bill, and the shortfall between what the U.S. spends and what it earns through taxes and other revenue now exceeds the size of its entire economy.

Whether the enormous debt load is an ominous problem requiring a solution or a function of America’s economic strength remains a matter of vigorous debate. President Trump took office promising to restore fiscal order, yet many of his policies have exacerbated the country’s debt woes.

Trump nominates a Kennedy ally to lead the F.D.A.

The president announced today that he had nominated Heidi Overton, a domestic policy official at the White House, to run the Food and Drug Administration. If confirmed by the Senate, she would replace Marty Makary, who resigned three months ago over the administration’s decision to authorize fruit-flavored e-cigarettes.

Overton, a physician, is a fierce opponent of abortion rights and has called for more controls over the prescribing of abortion pills. A supporter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again agenda, she stood alongside the president last week as he signed an executive order calling for fewer childhood vaccinations.

In other Trump administration news:

• The president said he believed the U.S. had come to a trade deal with Canada. Questions still linger about what the Canadians would give up in exchange.

• Natalie Harp is Trump’s most devoted aide, texting with world leaders on his behalf. A half dozen people with knowledge of her role told The Times what, exactly, she does.

The Navy is helping get oil through the Strait of Hormuz

Since May, the U.S. military has been stealthily shepherding tankers through the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz. Officials said the effort has aided more than 1,000 ships — typically with their transponders off — and helped keep oil prices from rising further.

Before the war, about 15 million barrels of crude oil a day p***ed through the Strait. That traffic quickly collapsed as Iran began attacking tankers in the waterway. But under U.S. protection in July, shippers transported around five million barrels of oil daily out of the Persian Gulf, ***ysts said.

In other Middle East news:

New mRNA vaccine could prevent return of melanoma

An experimental mRNA vaccine, when combined with an immunotherapy drug, allowed people with melanoma to live longer and cancer-free, the drugmakers Merck and Moderna said today.

The mRNA technology, which was instrumental in the rapid development of Covid vaccines, could add speed and flexibility to the decades-long quest for therapeutic cancer vaccines. Scientists can use the mRNA platform to create bespoke, individualized vaccines matched to the genetics of patients’ tumors.

In other health news: A growing number of Americans say their cannabis use is problematic. Many say they are unable to quit.

More top news

Politics

Other Big Stories

• Space: NASA has determined that its plan to push a falling space telescope back into orbit will not succeed, and the Swift Observatory will burn up in the atmosphere.

• Ukraine: Mykhailo Fedorov, the popular young defense minister who was fired by President Volodymyr Zelensky last month, called for wartime elections.

• California: After their first attempt ended in a mistrial, prosecutors are trying again to convict a man accused of starting one of the most destructive fires in the state’s history.

• Climate: The U.K. is set to test whether tweaking trans-Atlantic flight paths can reduce contrails, which add to global warming.

• Lawsuits: Personal injury cases have exploded in number and magnitude, funded by companies that offer investors a piece of any settlements.

• Tech: Loudon County, Va., is projected to receive $1.3 billion from data centers next year, some 40 percent of its tax revenue. Some officials and residents fear they’ve gone too far.

• Horse racing: When several horses wildly outperformed the odds at tracks at Saratoga and the Jersey Shore, industry watchers suspected an elaborate plot.

THE EVENING QUIZ

This question comes from a recent edition of the newsletter. Click an answer to see if you’re right.

Which kind of animal appears to like having pets, according to a new study?

TIME TO UNWIND

A.I. phones are here. Are they any good?

Google believes its new $1,100 smartphone can solve many of your problems with A.I. Want to book a table at a restaurant, order groceries or change the language of your favorite podcast? All you have to do is ask the phone’s A.I. ***istant.

It’s these kinds of features that are likely to appear on your next phone, no matter the brand, so our tech writer Brian Chen put Google’s device to the test. He was largely underwhelmed.

Find a great book to round out your summer reading

I love a good recommendation, so I was thrilled when my colleague reminded me this morning about “Trash!,” a memoir by a garbage collector that I’ve been meaning to pick up. To help you find a great book that fits your tastes, our Book Review team built a four-question quiz. Try it here.

For something more specific: Psychologists and therapists say these books might help you feel less lonely.

Vintage grails, for children

Parents have been dressing their children in hand-me-downs and secondhand clothes for generations. Many consider it a practical and wallet-conscious choice; after all, toddlers seem to outgrow their sweaters almost overnight.

But a recent surge of secondhand shoppers are seeking vintage wear for their kids, and some are willing to shell out as much for the miniature outfits as they would for their own clothes. One vintage romper featuring Eeyore recently sold for over $3,000.

Have a refined evening.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow — Matthew

Eli Cohen was our photo editor.

We welcome your feedback. Reach us at evening@nytimes.com.