The U.S. national debt has topped $40 trillion, putting a costly question before Washington: Can inflation make the bill easier to manage, or would households and businesses pay the price instead? President Donald Trump has suggested the government could ease the debt burden by inflating it away. The idea rests on a basic distinction between the dollar amount owed and what that money will buy in the future. If prices and incomes rise while the government continues paying fixed amounts on existing debt, those payments can become smaller in real terms. But inflation is no free escape hatch. It erodes the purchasing power of Americans’ savings and wages when they fail to keep pace with prices. It can also lead investors to demand higher interest rates on new government borrowing, raising the cost of servicing the debt and potentially wiping out any savings from reducing the value of older obligations. Whether the approach works depends on factors including the pace of inflation, economic growth, borrowing costs and the maturity of government debt. There is no guarantee inflation would lower the debt burden without imposing broader economic costs. With the national debt above $40 trillion, the stakes extend beyond federal budget arithmetic. A strategy that relies on rising prices could shift costs onto consumers and savers, while leaving taxpayers with a larger interest bill if borrowing rates climb.