This joint report by The Century Foundation and Protect Borrowers reveals the shocking impact of President Donald Trump’s affordability crisis on Americans’ finances, as an analysis of consumer credit data shows that over 40 percent of U.S. adults (roughly half of active cardholders) are unable to pay their credit card bills in full and carry a balance from month to month. This translates to roughly 111 million people trapped in cycles of persistent debt and exposed to industry-inflated, record-high interest rates. Of that group, more than 27 million Americans can only afford the minimum payment each month.
The report additionally finds that Americans have paid a record-setting amount of interest as a result of credit card banks doubling their profit margins over the last two decades. Americans have paid a cumulative total of $2.1 trillion in credit card interest since 2010, which is more than the total amount of outstanding student debt, and the total amount of auto loan debt, owed at the end of 2025. Since President Trump took office, Americans have paid $134.5 billion more than they would have under a 10 percent interest rate cap. For every day that President Trump fails to deliver on his promise to implement a 10 percent credit card rate cap, banks are charging families an additional $368 million in interest.
Read the Report: Interest Nation: The State of America’s Credit Card Debt Crisis
Read the Press Release: NEW ANALYSIS: More Than Half of Credit Cardholders Are Carrying Debt Month-to-Month at Crushing Interest Rates As Trump’s Affordability Crisis Worsens