Only 22% of US government debt is owned by foreign countries. Most of the debt is domestic.
Japan $1.1T 3%
China $0.8T 2%Some might describe this as:
Intragovernmental debt records a transfer from one part of the government to another, and therefore has no net effect on the government’s overall finances. As of December 2023, intragovernmental debt totaled $7.0 trillion, a $2.0 trillion increase from a decade ago. In almost all cases, such debt is held in government trust funds — accounting mechanisms to track money designated for a specific purpose or program.
The largest holder of intragovernmental debt is the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, which holds about $2.6 trillion, or 38 percent of intragovernmental debt. Other accounts holding such debt include retirement funds for federal employees, Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, and the Highway Trust Fund.
Another description of the US debt is: https://usafacts.org/articles/which-countries-own-the-most-u...
And there are other takes.
It's accurate in a sense to rate Japan and China as the largest non US Gov. lenders to the US Gov.
This is a rabbit hole of definitions and viewpoints.